So you’re sitting at your computer, filling out job applications, working on your resume, looking over job postings, or maybe reading this blog, and you decide that you want to take a break. After all, looking for work is a full-time job in itself. You should relax and take a few minutes away from the computer monitor to rest your eyes and regain your focus. However, taking a break can lead to procrastination if you’re not careful, and can derail your progress for the day, making it harder to start working again. Here are five rules to make your break go better, and make your day more efficient.
- No games or TV. Look, I love cable reruns and games of Bejeweled as much as the next person, but neither of them is conducive to a good break. For one thing, prolonged staring at screens creates more eye strain, which can lead to headaches, blurred vision, and overall crankiness. Second, TV programming is designed for half-hour or hour-long increments. Unless you’re taking a long lunch break (or you’re a TV critic), television will only distract you for longer than anticipated, and you might decide to watch the next show. And the next one. And the one after that. Games can be worse. Whether it’s a long-loading shooter like Fallout 3 or a simple puzzle like Solitaire, games are made to be played repeatedly. You can lose track of time and wind up realizing that your break is over…three hours later.
- No alternate projects. Taking a break from work means that you should focus your attention elsewhere. But paying your credit card bills, clipping coupons, or designing a house of cards is something that can take longer than anticipated, and can lead to “Give A Mouse A Cookie” Syndrome, where you realize that there are several things that you need to do, and before you know it, you’re dropping off dry cleaning, going on grocery runs, and fixing the tiles on your roof. If you have other things to do, make an agenda and set aside a certain amount of time to do them. These other projects haven’t been done because you have some more pressing things to do, like find a job.
- Make sure you eat or drink something.* You should eat a little something every 2-4 hours. Why? To keep your metabolism up. Besides helping you to digest things better (so you don’t gain as much weight), it helps you stay alert and focused. So not only will you breeze through the job applications all day, but you’ll skip the dreaded Sleepy Time that usually occurs in the early afternoon. And you’ll spend less on coffee too!
- Leave a project unfinished. This sounds counter-intuitive; you should finish your work so you have time to take a break, right? Well, if you leave something unfinished, you’ll be more likely to remember to go back to work on it, which will not only inspire you to get back to work sooner, but will also stew a bit in the back of your mind. This in turn can lead to you noticing some things you have to correct, or others that you may want to replace. You’ll end up with a better outcome not only in quantity, but quality as well.
- Set limits. This might seem like the most obvious, but it’s easy to get away with postponing your return to the desk and getting back to the job search. I usually take my breaks on the nose on a quarter-hour, so this way I know exactly when I have to get back to the grind. I will also use alarms (you’ve got ‘em on your cell phone, so don’t lie and say you don’t have one), which are a good reminder and a great way to keep me honest. This way, I’m conscious of what I am doing, and don’t muck around and lose a whole day. If you remember to keep track of your breaks, you’ll be a lot more effective and efficient with what you do on them.
Since you’re self-employed during your job search, you can choose the duration and timing of your breaks. Find what works for you and stick to it – you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish by taking your breaks the right way!
* Like some fruit or half a sandwich with some tea or juice, not a whole pizza or an entire chicken with a bottle of whiskey or a keg of beer. I don’t want people blaming their weight problems on me.
