Choose Your Intermission Wisely

According to a statistics article in the Harvard Business Review, undergraduate students who took a 10 minute Internet break after a tedious task were 16% more productive after the break than those who did non-web activities like talking on the phone or texting. According to the researchers, "Browsing the web serves an important restorative function."



We could spend lots of time discussing the ages of the undergraduates and how if older people would have been involved in the study, the results would have been different. There is a deeper question about why spending time on the Internet held more value than connecting (or trying to connect) with people via phone call or text, but you can have that discussion in your office.



The big "aha!" for me is simply that each of us have different things that give us the renewal we need to get our most important things done. Too often, we don't take the time to engage in one of these activities (mental or physical) during our brief intermission, and lack the focus for our "next half."



Today, why not make a list of 7-10 activities that help restore your energy and sense of purpose that require 10 minutes or less? Then the next time you are ready for a break-you have a better list of acts to bring into your lineup.

Is It Temporary?

A program participant came up after a keynote and said, "When I saw the three rings, I was immediately depressed." When I inquired as to why, she said, "Because it's my self ring that's being neglected." I immediately responded, "And will it still be that way in 30 days?" Her response was, "I don't know." I then replied, "Well, I think you have a good reason to be concerned."

As we have said many times in our blogs and in our programs, the circus is frequently unbalanced. There is more action in one ring than another and one ring may even be vacant. But look again in a few minutes and the ring that was vacant is now full of activity, while the others will have changed in intensity as well. When the performance is over, there will have been quality acts in all 3 rings.

If your circus is out of balance at the moment, don't panic. That's normal. But if it's been that way so long that the audience members around that ring (include yourself) are feeling neglected or frustrated, it's probably time to change your lineup. And if you can't quickly determine when the imbalance can change, you need an intermission to get yourself back on track.

Intermission Time?

"Dazed, confused, stressed, overwhelmed, numb, disconnected and burned out." These could describe how you are currently feeling at work or in your life and indicate that it is time for you to take an intermission. AND, it could also describe how you are feeling while you are actually taking an intermission or vacation.

Have you ever needed a vacation from your vacation? Take this into consideration as you plan your next getaway. Here are some ideas to consider:

• Before you plan your next vacation, consider what type of vacation you need. Are you ready for an adventure and to explore new places until you drop? Or do you need a vacation that is full of relaxing, reflection and rest?
  
• If you are planning on an "adventure" type of vacation, schedule in some time to relax and catch up on your sleep. Pace yourself. Your vacation will be more enjoyable if you get some rest and your recovery time will be quicker as well.
  
• An intermission doesn't need to be long nor does it need to be complex. Keeping your plans "local" and "simple" can be the better vacation that you enjoy.
  
• Schedule an extra day or two to unwind from a vacation at home. Take the time to get caught up on your mail, messages, laundry and plan for your return to "real life."

An intermission is an important part of your circus. Make sure you take full advantage of this time so that you will be ready for the next "Act."

Good Book To Help With Intermissions

It’s rare to recommend a book before reading it, but the tip was given to us just a couple days ago. The book is Stopping-How to be still when you have to keep going, by Dr. David Kundtz.

We think you’ll understand our interest in the book when you see the three types of “stopping” Dr. Kundtz suggests:
-Stillpoints
-Stopovers
-Grinding Halts

Once we have a chance to actually read it (perhaps during an upcoming intermission), we’ll let you know more about what we found to help with our circus.

Working Yourself To Death

According to the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (as reported by CNN), people who work 10-12 hours per day are 56% more likely to develop heart disease or have a heart attack than those who work less than 10 hours. Before you discount the results, realize this: They factored out stress, personality and behaviors such as smoking.

One of the authors of the study speculates that the increase in hours leaves less time to unwind. In Juggling Elephants terms, there is little time for an intermission to relax and recharge.

While this type of study gets our attention, we shouldn't discount the short-term impact of working too many hours. It's true that jobs sometimes require an increase in hours for a short period of time-but too often we let that short period of time become too long. For me, it helps to have some warning signals that tell me I am working too many hours without a break or change in routine. They include:

• Eating lunch at my desk more than once every two weeks.
• Skipping my personal time (reading, devotion, etc.) in the morning.
• Trying to convince myself I don't have time to exercise.
• Failure to have at least 2-3 good laughs per day-because I am too hyperfocused on work.
• Just going through the motions at work and not really focusing on how to best accomplish the tasks.
• When I have no creative energy.
• Being irritable or on a "short fuse" with family and friends.

You might want to make your own list-before some major health problem FORCES you to change behavior.