In the news lately we’ve been hearing about the importance of taking mental and physical breaks throughout the day. Recent inactivity studies show that sitting all day increases weight and increases potential for heart disease. One thing that has been shown to make a difference is making small movements throughout the day.
If these studies prompt you to begin taking frequent breaks from sitting down then you should definitely try to combine these breaks with creativity boosters. While you are engaging your muscles you can also be engaging the creative side of your brain. Your breaks can be anything from pacing the floor, which allows your mind to wander and sets the stage for creative inferences, to standing at the whiteboard doodling, to stretching*. All of these serve the dual purpose of making you healthier and more mentally present.
Injecting these kinds of breaks into the workday at perhaps a rate of one per hour (Tony Schwartz, productivity guru, recommends 90 minutes) thus serves the dual purpose of enabling more creative and effective solutions to emerge from the brain while also providing the body with more energy.
“Mindless” activities like playing catch with a coworker, shooting hoops, or catching a ball as it bounces off the wall are all good options for mental and physical combination breaks.** However, there’s no reason why the break has to take more than a minute or two if you can’t spare more time than that. Even shifting from foot to foot while staring at the wall is an option. Because GIS so often involves the use of the creative side of the brain it is absolutely worthwhile to try and combine both of these types of breaks together as it should increase your efficiency in your day to day work as well as up the chances that you will think of breakthrough strategic maneuvers for your business or business processes.
*Walking around and pestering coworkers doesn’t count. Putting on a wig and walking around waiting for someone to notice might.
**Shooting slingshot penguins at unsuspecting coworkers probably doesn’t count, but might be worth the effort as well.
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