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nenelonomh · 2 months

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take more breaks while working

don't believe me?

have a read of this article by michican state university. or this one, by the university of north carolina. regardless of the evidence you consider, you will discover that it is preferable to take breaks when working.

for many of us, being productive means spending more time working. it would seem sense that we can do more at work if we dedicate more time to our tasks. not surprisingly, there is no shortage of advice on how to make the most of work time. for instance, the "daily routines of CEOs" frequently involve things like working on the weekends, rising at four in the morning, and even being "strategic about how often you go to the bathroom." many employees decide to put in long hours, skip lunch, and hammer through an ever-increasing burden.

taking regular breaks during the workday is essential for several reasons:

research shows that periodic breaks can enhance well-being and overall performance. when we step away from our tasks, we recharge mentally and physically, leading to better focus and productivity.

skipping breaks can lead to faster burnout and higher stress levels. taking short breaks increases productivity, job satisfaction, and mental health.

breaks help us avoid boredom and maintain focus. they also allow us to retain information, make connections, and reevaluate our goals.

here's the science behind taking breaks:

studies show that when we pause our learning activities and engage in no specific task, the neurons responsible for memory and learning become hyperactive, firing up to ten times faster than when we’re actively engaged in a task. this phenomenon is simply called 'hyperactive neurons' - have a look here, at sciencecafe.co.uk.

breaks refresh the mind, replenish mental resources, and enhance creativity. those “aha moments” often occur after strategic breaks, allowing us to see situations in new ways.

frequent decision-making throughout the day can wear down willpower and reasoning ability. taking breaks helps prevent decision fatigue, leading to better choices and productivity. see this psychology today article for more information.

when should you take breaks? and what is a strategic break?

a strategic break is a purposeful pause taken during work or study to optimize productivity and well-being. it involves stepping away from tasks to recharge mentally, prevent burnout, and enhance focus.

there are many techniques to help you decide when to take breaks - and each have their own benefits and losses.here's some of my favourites:

time-based breaks: consider taking short breaks every 60 to 90 minutes. this interval aligns with our natural ultradian rhythms, which affect focus and alertness.

pomodoro technique: try the pomodoro technique, where you work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. after four cycles, take a longer break (15-30 minutes).

task completion breaks: take a break after completing a task or milestone. celebrate achievements, even small ones, with a brief pause.

signs of fatigue: listen to your body. if you feel mentally drained, fatigued, or distracted, it's time for a break.

remember - breaks aren't a luxury. they're an essential part of maintaining focus and well-being!

further reading:

the science behind taking breaks at work | the right staff

the science behind taking breaks while studying: why you should embrace "take a break" moments | science cafe uk

how to take better breaks at work, according to research | harvard business review

breaks during the workday | michigan state university

the science of taking breaks at work: how to be more productive by changing the way you thing about downtime | courtney seiter, buffer

why and how you should take breaks at work | angela grippo, psychology today

taking breaks | the learning centre - university of north carolina at chapel hill

end notes:

thank you for reading! i hope today's post was helpful!

please let me know if you have any feedback for these posts. additionally, you can suggest new post ideas or interests through my ask box.

❤️nene

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juaelmallik · 3 years

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Yes, you can only work 5 hours and call it a day. Here’s how to make it productive

Something’s very wrong with the traditional nine-to-five: it doesn’t work.

Scandinavian countries dominate the World Happiness Report—Norway being the third most productive country in the world and Helsinki winning the title of the best city for work-life balance. And their standard working week is less than 40 hours long. They work a whopping 359 hours less than Americans every year.

How I began working five-hour workdays (by accident)

When I quit my job in the great resignation of 2020 to become a freelance writer, I was determined to continue working eight-hour days. I was a “real” full-time writer, after all, and I needed to prove it by working just like everyone else works.

That is until I couldn’t.

I contracted COVID-19 in May 2021. After coming back to work in June, I began to notice my focus and energy falter. The doctor told me it was brain fog—a common side-effect seen in those who’ve recovered from the virus. I knew I might have to take it down a notch for a few months.

On most days, I couldn’t work beyond five hours. But surprisingly, my productivity didn’t budge with the reduction in working hours: I earned the same income, met deadlines comfortably, and left the desk fulfilled. My clients were just as happy as before.

But was my skyrocketed productivity just the result of the rest I had to take while recovering? I was skeptical. I decided to continue the shorter workday, despite fully recovering in July. And I’m never going back to the eight-hour workday again.

eight-hour vs. five-hour workdays

I work in Pomodoros for everything—from writing to responding to emails to networking. I track how many hours I work, what I work on, and how much time I take to finish a task using the Pomofocus timer and the data it provides.

Before, I worked eight or nine hours a day. But I hardly attributed my burnout and lack of creative satisfaction to overworking. “Maybe I haven’t rested enough, planned well, or learned enough productivity techniques,” I thought.

It wasn’t uncommon for me to end days thinking, “if only I had more time”—because I always had some items unchecked on my to-do list.

Now, when I’m working only five hours a day, I notice I cross off almost all my tasks. Knowing I only get five hours has made me more intentional with my to-do list: I assign priorities better, say no more, and sign up only for the necessary meetings. I’m working smarter, not harder. The same tasks also visibly take less time to complete now. I can write a well-researched 2,000 to 3,000 word article in half the time, which gives me more time to grow my business.

My relationship with work shifted. Having only five hours forced me to say yes to only exciting freelance writing jobs that would also pay well. And instead of working till 1 a.m., I started to ask for more lenient deadlines (and my clients happily agreed).

Nothing is as urgent as it seems.

Leading a fuller life outside of work—having hobbies, socializing, going for long walks, playing the violin—further boosted my creativity and mental well-being. With more idle time and fewer hours chained to the chair, I could make space for personal passion projects like improving my newsletter (check it out here), working on my website (here), and laying the groundwork for my podcast.

But it wasn’t easy. I often felt like I could do more, made unrealistic to-do lists, and struggled to challenge my mindset about working. I’d like to share a few things that helped me, in case you’re starting to think about experimenting with the five-hour workday too.

The mindset shift

The biggest barrier for me wasn’t managing tasks well in the limited five hours—it was convincing my brain that there’s no correlation between the number of hours I work and how productive I am.

I can’t overstate the importance of changing your mindset first—before you worry about the practical concerns. 81% of people spend less than three hours a day on creative work anyway.

I suggest doing a time-tracking experiment to see how many hours you work in a day and how many of those are productive. You’ll likely notice that after a certain number of hours, sitting any more just gets you diminishing returns. That’s when you know you should stop working for the day.

Work in your mental peaks

There’s a time of the day you work better. Maybe it’s in the morning before your kids are awake, maybe it’s late at night with no distractions, or maybe it’s in the afternoon lull. You tend to do your best work in these hours and get more done in less time. It’s your best time to focus.

For me, the flow state is easier to grab in the mornings. I make a conscious effort not to schedule any meetings or personal appointments during these early hours to get maximum done.

You can find these mental peaks through trial and error or by using a time tracking app. Once you know your best hours, you should optimize your day according to them—manage your energy, not your time.

Prioritize and value rest

When you carry your office with you everywhere, you need to be disciplined about rest. In his book, Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang talks about the importance of downtime and emphasizes why work and rest are not opposites but complementary. He broke down the schedules of highly successful people from various industries—from scientists to artists—and found a similar schedule: work intensively for four to five hours, and spend an equal amount of time on deliberate rest.

For people with less control over their workdays, like doctors and executives, Pang suggests taking long vacations without technology or using the weekends to engage in enjoyable activities that are also a little physically and mentally challenging.

I set a hard deadline for myself to get up from my desk at 5 p.m. and not check email on the weekends. It gives me enough space to rest physically and mentally, unplug a little, and return to work more refreshed.

Plan your workday intentionally—and realistically

When I started to notice the increase in productivity, I began challenging myself to do more and more in those five hours. I let unnecessary tasks seep into my to-do list and set unrealistic expectations for myself—which not only affected my mental health but also compromised my quality of work.

I quickly realized I was setting myself up for failure. I knew I valued quality over quantity, so I got picky. I’d limit my to-do list to three items, estimate how long they would take me to finish and add an hour of buffer time.

Here are my three golden tips for realistic planning:

Underestimate how much you can get done in a day.

Overestimate how much time a task will take.

Overestimate interruptions during your day.

You don’t need to complicate it. Go easy on yourself, and make it a point to be more mindful while making your to-do list.

Five hours is enough (sometimes, it’s more than enough)

Personally, my life turned upside down after implementing the five-hour workday. My mental health has never been better, and I’ve never gotten so much done at the same time. Now, my days have room for spontaneity, daydreaming, and boredom.

If you’re just getting started with working fewer hours, I suggest taking it slow and customizing the suggestions in this article according to your life. It’s better to build a routine that works for you by experimenting rather than going around searching for the perfect system that you can’t stick with.

How many hours we work per day is a question that barely holds any importance today. It’s time to ask better questions: How can you find more time to think? How can you minimize distractions? How can you manage your energy well? These are the questions we should all be focusing on instead.

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zephiesjournal · 2 years

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thursday, september 22nd, 2022

the mole i got impatient and picked at sure bled continuously throughout the night. i put some more cream on a couple others, one i’m still letting work supposedly at normal speed but i’m still skeptical. going in the complete opposite direction of trying to rely more on intrinsic motivation i signed up for habitica again, just out of curiosity, and wouldn’t you know it i did every daily task for the first time this week. this will absolutely be harmful in the long run and i doubt i’ll stick to it very long but in the meantime ooh numbers and tangible feedback.

i got a little irritable doing wanikani reviews so i started trying to use the pelvic wand again. i’m just focusing on being able to relax with something a little up there, then i remembered reading a finger is always better if possible, which was easier to work with. i marked “finish srs reviews” as done even though i had a lot left because i’d done enough. caught up with wanikani but still a lot of bunpro left, don’t know how i’m gonna approach learning new stuff yet once i’m caught up. i think maybe i need to take it slower because there’s a lot of stuff i don’t fully understand or even remember.

i got sidetracked trying to find an old game store from when i was a kid and started going down literal memory lanes on google maps. i don’t know why it put me in such a better mood, hope i’m not getting reliant on living in the past but it sure would be nice. that was mostly just putting off starting learning excel which i again didn’t start partly because i spent so long just trying to download it. i need to get started in that soon so i can start tracking my budget or before i know it i’m gonna order another instrument. i’m very excited also, the rocksmith cable came today.

got myself reading for an hour with a pomodoro paired with the stupidbrain rpg. i’m up to the relaxation chapter and i felt more relaxed just reading about it but as it’s described more and more as meditation i become worried. afterwards i did ear training for the first time in however long and i can still recognize up to sixths surprisingly well. then i had to look into voice training which as expected in the short time i gave myself according to my schedule i could only find very nebulous instructions. saw there’s a book that’s recommended and i don’t know if it’s even worth trying it without reading that or i’ll just get really frustrated wondering what the hell i’m meant to be doing.

#september 2022

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tlxstudyblr-blog · 4 years

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How I stay focus:

Hello everyone,

I hope that everyone is well! I’m currently heading towards final exam period for the semester and I figured that a few of you probably are too. So I thought I would compile a list of things that I do and use to try and stay as focused as I can and minimise my adventures to procrastination island.

1. Forest App

An app that I heavily rely on during exam period is an app called Forest. I have been using this app for about four years now and it has been extremely helpful with stopping me from checking my phone and going on social media.

The idea of this application is that you ‘plant’ a tree for a certain amount of time and if you exit the app you will end up ‘killing’ your tree. If you stay focused the entire time then you plant a tree and earn coins. These coins add up so that you are able to buy different types of trees, or you can save up and use these coins to buy a tree and have it planted in real life. So not only are you combating distractions, but you are also aiding the environment.

2. Study with a Friend

This one is a challenging one because just because you may be great friends with someone, doesn’t always mean that you are going to concentrate well together.

I’ve been lucky in finding a perfect companion to study with. We used to study together in person however, due to the circumstances we have turned to video calling each other (and surprisingly have found it even more effective).

We don’t study the same thing at all, but what we have found is that the ‘presence’ of the other person has been motivating. When we see one of us straying from the task at hand, we are able to call each other out and motivate each other into ‘doing one more question’ or to ‘keep going’.

We also remind each other to drink water and to take breaks. Which leads me to my third point.

3. Pomodoro Technique

I don’t fully practice this technique however, I do follow the time intervals when I study. I use this technique with the Forest App which I find especially useful. The technique was created by Francesco Cirillo and utilised a 25-to-5 minute ratio.

The idea is that you work on a task for 25 minutes, and when the timer goes off you give yourself a 5 minute break. You repeat this until you get your tasks done. However, after four 25 minute sessions, you give yourself one larger break (20-30 minutes).

During the five minute break, I usually get up and stretch or quickly check social media. It’s like a little reward after staying focused for 25 minutes.

For more information feel free to check out the original site: https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique

4. Rewards

Rewarding myself and my efforts plays a larger part in maintaining my motivation. These rewards range from small things, like checking my phone as I’ve mentioned above, to larger rewards.

For example, some days I might hold off from playing animal crossing or watching an episode of a series I’m into until I’ve completed my to-do list.

Hopefully, these tips and tricks helps you in some ways in keeping focused with your studies. A reminder to take care of yourself and stay hydrated and good luck for any assessments or exams you may have due.

<3 TL

#study blog #studyblr #final exams #exam #studying #focus #advice #study tricks

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brianhandy · 5 years

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Time to Search for Marketing

My plan was for things to let up this month to leave a little more time for job hunting, and do marketing research half the time. Instead I’ve found that even finding a marketing person is a full time job, cold emailing and searches are always tough, and onboarding new folks will always be tricky (so consider instead investing in more long term contracts since onboarding is a real time cost). These two weeks’ news: marketing knowledge, searching for the right person once more, and onboarding!

Nintendo Power praises by Chris Zukowski.

Marketing Knowledge

I watched a GDC talk most mornings the last two weeks, including:

Erik Johnson's “Making Indie Games That Sell”

Chris Dwyer's "(Opportunity) Cost Effective Marketing & PR for Indies"

David Wehle’s “No Time, No Budget, No Problem: Finishing The First Tree”

Casey Yano's "Slay the Spire: Success through Marketability"

“Put Your Name on Your Game, a Talk by Bennett Foddy and Zach Gage"

Nick Popovich's "Making Games That Stand Out and Survive"

Mike Rose’s “Making the World Give a Damn About Your Game in 2018″

Chris Zukowski’s “Build Your Own Fan Club: How to Use Your Email List”

Mike Rose’s and Chris Zukowski’s I’ve linked since I found them especially formative to how I will approach marketing now. All the talks are good for different reasons, all reinforce the same ideas of developing a relationship with your audience and all suggest, like a good friend, investing in that relationship by routinely sending them cool stuff you think they’d enjoy. Nintendo Power is cited in Chris’s talk as the best example of this yet. But having an audience that loves consuming your work, whether it’s love letters as an email newsletter for Date Everything, or a Discord server that gets secret news and updates early, investing in the community and connection that is your audience will help grow and maintain that so that when your game does launch, the strongest fans can immediately invest and help push it up the charts. It’s a great core idea, and it depends on respecting and mutually investing in your audience in a really healthy way.

Also: did some preliminary video tests with friends so we can start making more marketable content soon. Hopefully more on that soon!

Do you like filling out webforms? Yes? Great, cold emailing is perfect for you!

Searching for Marketing Folks

Cold emailing folks is still hard! I think this will be rough forever. Making a template helps so you don’t rewrite the same core every time. Tweaking it to respect someone’s individuality and showing what you care about helps too. We all have to communicate with a lot of people, and I think as long as there is respect both ways in mind and in action, using your own templates for certain emails is fine. If you’re going to say the same three sentences every time, stop wasting time rewriting them. They do their job - customize the message elsewhere.

The search has been just as rewarding as when looking for an artist though. It broke down into a few steps like last time:

Searching for portfolios I trusted. This was on Google, leading to individuals’ sites for “indie games marketing” or “mobile game marketing” keywords, then cold emailing, getting rejected, and then asking for their recommendations for more folks which had a 1 in 5 chance of getting another 2-5 names. Repeat. (this process took about 3 rounds to find/email some 10-20 people, with rounds costing probably 4hrs of time each on separate days since email replies average 24-48hrs)

Sending back and forth emails with a smaller pool of the top 5-8 individuals. Different backgrounds gave some leads for trailers and PR folks that were not marketing directly as well. This email back and forth averaged about 5 emails, taking 2-3hrs each day for about 3 days.

Phonecalls and Skype chats with just over half of those individuals, a half hour each with buffer times for setup and notes/emails after, have narrowed us down to probably the final two candidates once again. That meant another 3-5hrs combined to talk with everyone and read some longer emails that needed 30min+ each to read and reply to.

One last round of phonecalls, another 2hrs, and we should have the final marketing candidate. That means in total, finding a candidate for this position probably took between 23 and 28 hours, or a little over half workweek but divided over two weeks. That’s not a small amount of time! I would expect any major new hire, from a zero reference starting point, to just cost a week of work over 2-3 weeks in the future. Due to the back and forth there’s not a great way to accelerate this either. It’s part of the process I didn’t really know how to make time for, but both hiring for design and hiring for marketing have worked this way so I want to make that a clear expectation in the future.

SBA’s website is fancier than I’m used to for government sites!

Business Plans & Executive Summaries

A friend introduced me to SBA - Small Business Administration, a government support agency for entrepreneurs and small businesses. It is surprisingly excellent and has given me some really good wakeup moments for facing the upcoming financial challenges and expectations. They want people who walk through their doors to be well equipped to make a sustainable business, or acquire funding to grow, and in return they want to see your business numbers so they have a sense of what markets are shrinking or growing. From the perspective of a small business, it’s a very useful tool - and they’re not only holding me accountable but teaching me where I need to focus my efforts to financially survive. I am excited to keep working with an advisor I have here now and turn an executive summary I wrote this week into more of a real business plan - useful both for managing expectations of returns, and for marketing to the best audience possible.

Better “onboarding” (like a boat) involves “iterating” (like the photo)! Ahh? Ahh??

Onboarding

Don’t be fooled by the silly photo - this part was hard and important!

Searching for new contractors took more time than expected, but onboarding known contractors also took a larger than expected amount of time. My biggest regret on this is not taking a more iterative approach to onboarding. I passed on instructions for a new artist I worked with recently (a cool person at that!) and later learned I had not been clear in communicating my needs, the style, or the goals in the way I believed I had. My value is that it is on the communicator to deliver a message on average, and I wish I had done more checking early to ensure I had delivered the right message.

For a contracted game designer I am bringing on to do a pass on adding animal videos, I’ve asked that they show first drafts early and often at the start so we are on the same page before too much work risks being done down the wrong path. I value the concept of hiring good people, clearly communicating, and getting out of the way - but at times those last two points can be in conflict with one another. I hope to share more details soon on finding a better approach here too.

Ahh! What’s this? Secret developer options ingame? 👀

Design & Tech

Just some fun final details! I added a debug mode to show all animals, questions, and silhouettes! This increases onboarding and test results times in a way I’ve always wanted to do, but couldn’t justify until it was slowing down the work of others. Now that’s in and has gotten me to also do a quick pass at optimizing the videos, so they’ve all been trimmed to 11sec and cropped to the size of the frame, saving us 400/600MB of video space. Awesome!

Rapid video bulk editing was done with ffmpeg for trimming and MPEG Streamclip for cropping and video quality level control. I’ve also added dynamic quality adjustors (whoops forgot that before) so low ram devices run lowres videos compared to high ram devices. Accidentally, I had set everything to low ram before. But that’s fixed!

Toggl report so far for 2020! March is work from home + halfway into the month.

Time Keeping

Toggl is my timekeeping app, and it’s been very useful lately as I bulk categorized all work that had been done on both this and my last project. When working for others, I seem to successfully track 7.5hrs/day of work (there’s a little wiggle room here as I don’t always start tracking exactly when I start - but it’s a solid approximation) and when I work for myself, I successfully track about 6hrs/day (and even though personal tracking is significantly less accurate, this is still is a concerning number). In short: I’m slacking! I really want those numbers to go up, even if I think a big part of it is also how many of those hours are focused vs unfocused work. But it’s good to see my work numbers aren’t ridiculously off the mark. It’s definitely possible for me to hit full workdays in self employment, I’m just not there yet.

Pomodoro Timer techniques on my smart watch have actually been incredibly effective lately for that focus. I’ll set a timer for 25min, then a break timer for 5min, and the wrist accessibility keeps me really focused and moving forwards to getting those hours in. With startup work especially, it’s hard to tell where breaks give the creativity needed to keep up with how the goals change, and where focus gives you the work needed to pump out a product on the current path. Lightfield capture technology was a big distraction this week among all the virus news (if we have to stay indoors, I want to develop a better and more 3d Skype!) and while that might be more profitable as a field longterm, short term it’s better to focus on just finishing the job you started. So what’s best? I think that’s something to continuously be reassessed by context, per project, and a healthy dose of gut feeling.

Was it most efficient to reuse UI for testing? Or just done to look pretty?

Conclusion

Time is short! How do we make the most of it? One of the marketing talks said 30% of your time as an indie dev should go towards marketing, starting before the project starts. And that makes sense. But how do we fill in all the other balancing pieces? Should optimizing get as much priority as finding a good marketing person? Should we spend more time onboarding someone we find, or finding someone who doesn’t need onboarding? And depending on what kinds of profits you can expect and how confidently, you can take all the time in the world. Marketing, business, and development time have this entanglement that I’m only just starting to feel directly - and beyond creating art to change the world, I am experiencing now everything about the marketing and business side of game development, and the stresses of it, directly.

Next time: I hope I decide on a business and marketing plan and a target demographic before I commit to a game’s development, rather than the end of it. It will make sustainable game development significantly easier.

3/13/20

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anthonykrierion · 5 years

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Self-Care Strategies for the Workplace

Rest & Productivity Go Hand in Hand

In an ever competitive workforce, the pressure to be constantly available and online is at an all time high. Even in companies like Distilled that offer flexible working and champion a 35 hour work week, the pressure to yield huge results and increase productivity is greater than ever. And if you’re like me, in order to produce those results, your self-care is often the first thing to go.

Few people know how to optimize for productivity like CEOs and entrepreneurs. We asked startup founder and business owner Rand Fishkin, “what’s the one service you find extremely useful that most people don’t know about?” He answered, “Sleep. How have people not heard of this? It's amazing. You get 8 hours of it, and then you can suddenly work smarter and faster than people who brag about working 80 hours weeks. Amazing.”

While you can’t always get all the rest you need at night, it is possible to fit more rest and self-care into your day. You can control how you manage your workday stress and productivity with one simple hack: take more breaks. And commit to taking them.

There are plenty of good, scientifically-backed articles out there explaining why breaks are good for you (like this one from Psychology Today and this one from Business Insider) if you’re curious or still need convincing. There’s even a great article about how to stay positive at work by taking breaks from my colleague Chris Lewis. But I’m going to get right into the good stuff: which types of breaks will work best for you and how to make sure you actually take them.

Taking Breaks at Work: Find the Type of Break That Works For YOU

Whether you work from home and can wear pajamas all day or need to wear a suit in a formal organization, you can find a self-care strategy that works for you. It should pair well with your job and environment, but be different enough from your work that your brain and body can relax. If you take a break just because you “know it’s good for you,” you’ll quickly stop making time for them, so bias yourself towards things you actually enjoy doing.

I’ve broken down break-types into three simple buckets. You can mix and match or scale up or scale down depending on your individual job needs and how much time you have on a given day.

Self-Care Strategies

1.Get Moving

If you have a mostly sedentary job, the best type of break you can take is simply one that involves you getting up from your desk. Even if you have a standing desk, something that moves your body will improve your circulation, decrease health issues linked to long-term sitting, and minimize eye strain if you allow yourself to look at objects in the distance while moving about.

If you have 15 minutes or less, even walking to get water or taking a lap around the office can be hugely beneficial. If you have more time, trying to fit in mid-day fitness classes or short stretching or yoga sessions can boost your energy levels. Walking meetings are all the rage and if you can convince your colleagues to do a stand-up meeting literally standing up, your body will thank you for it.

2. Get Outside

Getting outside is especially beneficial for folks who look at a screen all day. Even if you work in an urban area, some time with the sky is great for your eyes. This is also easy to add to your routine if your work attire is formal or uniformed and you struggle with trying to exercise during the workday. It works well for both introverts and extroverts as it’s easy to invite a colleague for a walk around the block with you, or just take some time to enjoy whatever nature is near you in privacy. As a bonus, studies show that time in nature is truly de-stressing for your heart.

If it’s raining or you can’t leave the office, you can still make this break strategy work by changing your environment. If you have space, explore a different part of the building or if you work in a flexible co-working space, try changing desks.

Pro Tip: While coffee-runs and snack breaks are a good excuse to get out of the office, try to avoid spending your whole break just purchasing food and eating it mindlessly, while you obsess about all the things you need to be doing when you’re back from “lunch.” That’s not so much a break as a food-fueled mental-planning session.

3. Switch Gears

Say you’re pressed for time, you can’t leave the office, and you can’t get sweaty. Another way to take a break at work is simply switching gears. If you have a more active job or one that requires you to work with a lot of people in a lot of meetings, you can take mental breaks by switching to a new content area. Ideally, switch to something pleasurable and not just another type of work. Switching to a personal project, reading a book for pleasure, a craft like knitting, or even a short Netflix binge can greatly boost your morale.

This type of break works especially well if your job requires high levels of dedicated concentration for long periods of time, such as with programming, accounting, rehearsing music, or other hard-focus activities. I love the oldie but good article which demonstrates that the most elite achievers are the most deliberate with their work periods and their leisure time. Switching gears can be a very deliberate way of organizing your day.

Pro Tip: Unless you’re diligent about not getting distracted or procrastinating, this is probably not the best type of break if you work from home or are self-employed.

Make the Right Break Fit in Your Schedule

Okay, now that you have some types of breaks that might work for you, how do you actually plug them into your busy day?

Figure out which times of the day work best to take a break (and for how long)

Whether you have strict meal or rest breaks from your employer or state, or have a ton of flexibility in setting your schedule and working hours, you still need to think about what type of self-care works best for your schedule.

Think about when you typically feel the most productive and when you feel the most bogged down. The next time you’re between activities or feeling fatigued, try one of these break ideas based on how much time you have. It’s okay to start small!

5-30 Minute Break Ideas

Go for a short walk

Have a (healthy) snack

Listen to a podcast

Meditate and breathe (the Headspace app has sessions ranging from 3 minutes to two hours)

Short exercise or stretching (here’s a good article of stretches you can do at your desk)

Watch a video or TED talk

Use that craft or hobby: knit, journal, draw, doodle, design, Pinterest, play puzzles or games

Catch up with a friend or colleague

30-60 Minute Break Ideas

Sneak in a session at the gym or a class (many places are offering shorter lunch-time classes)

Walk to a destination - a new coffee place or lunch spot

Have your lunch in a nearby scenic area

Invite a colleague for a walk to play a board game / card game

Watch some longer videos

Make more time for your craft or hobby

Make plans with someone from another office or outside-of-work friend

*Some of these are may replace a lunch-break if you have a job where you can eat while working at other times.

Protect Your Break Time at Work

Congrats, you’ve figured out what type of break you want to try and when you’ll do it! But how do you prevent that time you carved out for yourself from being overridden?

Create the Habit

It’s so tempting if you’re “in the groove” or if a last-minute meeting pops up to immediately throw your break plans aside and just tough it out. That’s where creating the habit comes in. A good break is a self-care commitment that you make to yourself and just like riding a bike or learning any new skill, practice makes perfect.

Yes, absolutely there will be times where other tasks have to be prioritized over your self-care at work. Breaks, by their very nature, need to be flexible. Unless you’re very lucky (or have a highly regulated schedule) you likely can’t take the exact same break at the same time of day every day. Things come up, life happens, priorities change. But don’t let your breaks always fall last in your priority list. Here are a few ideas on how to start keeping some time for you at work.

Set a Calendar Reminder

Pencil in your breaks and help to indicate to others when you expect to be unavailable. Calendar events typically work for larger breaks or lunches, or if I’ve made plans to take my break with other people who can hold me accountable.

This might work well for you if your work schedule has a great deal of routine so people start to know when you’ll likely be unavailable. Alternatively, you can toss in breaks on your schedule but adjust as the day moves on. I’ve been guilty of pushing a big break around three or four times as the morning evolves. Simply keeping breaks present on your calendar is a great place to start.

Use the Pomodoro Technique

This method uses a timer (like the one on your phone) to organize your work. The semi-classic technique of breaking your work up into 25 minute increments is especially useful if you have a lot to slog through and need help maintaining your focus.

Since this time management method naturally creates short breaks between increments of work (and a longer break of 20-30 minutes after four “pomodoros” or increments of 25 minutes), this is a super-fast way to pepper lots of breaks throughout your day. Not surprisingly, the motto of this time management method (like one of Distilled’s core values) is “work smarter, not harder” since its goal is to keep you from falling into the trap of multi-tasking.

Structure Your Day to Protect Your Time

There are plenty of great articles to help you organize your day for optimal performance. But have you considered structuring your time to keep time for yourself? Whether you group similar tasks together or keep all your meetings in a certain part of the day, remember to structure your day in a way that protects your most productive hours.

Taking Breaks at Work: Key Takeaways

Recently, our VP of London, Jess Champion, in a generous act of vulnerability, sent an all-company email to remind us about self-care: “I’ve been feeling burnt out of late. A bit sleep deprived. Pretty stressed. ... I’ve noticed recently that my personal coping mechanism in these situations is to DO ALL THE THINGS. Because then I’m totally in control...right?! … I thought that if I shipped all the frogs, nailed the to-do-list, made a bunch of spreadsheets and organised ALL THE THINGS, then I was looking after myself. I reckon it’s probably a classic lie that many of us tell ourselves in times of stress but, for me at least, it certainly ain’t effective.”

If you’re like me, Jess, and many others, make time for self-care at work and take your breaks. These are the key self-care strategies to remember when preparing to take breaks at work.

Figure out what type of break works best for you

Determine how much time you typically have/what times of the day you can take breaks

Create the habit by planning your break times

Are you a manager trying to protect your team’s time? Or just great at keeping time for yourself? Comment below to share your break-challenges or best tips for in-office self-care!

Self-Care Strategies for the Workplace was originally posted by Video And Blog Marketing

#Video And Blog Marketing

0 notes

ronijashworth · 5 years

Text

Self-Care Strategies for the Workplace

Rest & Productivity Go Hand in Hand

Taking Breaks at Work: Find the Type of Break That Works For YOU

I’ve broken down break-types into three simple buckets. You can mix and match or scale up or scale down depending on your individual job needs and how much time you have on a given day.

Self-Care Strategies

1.Get Moving

2. Get Outside

3. Switch Gears

Pro Tip: Unless you’re diligent about not getting distracted or procrastinating, this is probably not the best type of break if you work from home or are self-employed.

Make the Right Break Fit in Your Schedule

Okay, now that you have some types of breaks that might work for you, how do you actually plug them into your busy day?

Figure out which times of the day work best to take a break (and for how long)

5-30 Minute Break Ideas

Go for a short walk

Have a (healthy) snack

Listen to a podcast

Meditate and breathe (the Headspace app has sessions ranging from 3 minutes to two hours)

Short exercise or stretching (here’s a good article of stretches you can do at your desk)

Watch a video or TED talk

Use that craft or hobby: knit, journal, draw, doodle, design, Pinterest, play puzzles or games

Catch up with a friend or colleague

30-60 Minute Break Ideas

Sneak in a session at the gym or a class (many places are offering shorter lunch-time classes)

Walk to a destination - a new coffee place or lunch spot

Have your lunch in a nearby scenic area

Invite a colleague for a walk to play a board game / card game

Watch some longer videos

Make more time for your craft or hobby

Make plans with someone from another office or outside-of-work friend

*Some of these are may replace a lunch-break if you have a job where you can eat while working at other times.

Protect Your Break Time at Work

Congrats, you’ve figured out what type of break you want to try and when you’ll do it! But how do you prevent that time you carved out for yourself from being overridden?

Create the Habit

Set a Calendar Reminder

Use the Pomodoro Technique

Structure Your Day to Protect Your Time

Taking Breaks at Work: Key Takeaways

If you’re like me, Jess, and many others, make time for self-care at work and take your breaks. These are the key self-care strategies to remember when preparing to take breaks at work.

Figure out what type of break works best for you

Determine how much time you typically have/what times of the day you can take breaks

Create the habit by planning your break times

Are you a manager trying to protect your team’s time? Or just great at keeping time for yourself? Comment below to share your break-challenges or best tips for in-office self-care!

from Digital Marketing https://www.distilled.net/resources/self-care-strategies-for-the-workplace/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

#digital marketing

0 notes

dillenwaeraa · 5 years

Text

Self-Care Strategies for the Workplace

Rest & Productivity Go Hand in Hand

Taking Breaks at Work: Find the Type of Break That Works For YOU

I’ve broken down break-types into three simple buckets. You can mix and match or scale up or scale down depending on your individual job needs and how much time you have on a given day.

Self-Care Strategies

1.Get Moving

2. Get Outside

3. Switch Gears

Pro Tip: Unless you’re diligent about not getting distracted or procrastinating, this is probably not the best type of break if you work from home or are self-employed.

Make the Right Break Fit in Your Schedule

Okay, now that you have some types of breaks that might work for you, how do you actually plug them into your busy day?

Figure out which times of the day work best to take a break (and for how long)

5-30 Minute Break Ideas

Go for a short walk

Have a (healthy) snack

Listen to a podcast

Meditate and breathe (the Headspace app has sessions ranging from 3 minutes to two hours)

Short exercise or stretching (here’s a good article of stretches you can do at your desk)

Watch a video or TED talk

Use that craft or hobby: knit, journal, draw, doodle, design, Pinterest, play puzzles or games

Catch up with a friend or colleague

30-60 Minute Break Ideas

Sneak in a session at the gym or a class (many places are offering shorter lunch-time classes)

Walk to a destination - a new coffee place or lunch spot

Have your lunch in a nearby scenic area

Invite a colleague for a walk to play a board game / card game

Watch some longer videos

Make more time for your craft or hobby

Make plans with someone from another office or outside-of-work friend

*Some of these are may replace a lunch-break if you have a job where you can eat while working at other times.

Protect Your Break Time at Work

Congrats, you’ve figured out what type of break you want to try and when you’ll do it! But how do you prevent that time you carved out for yourself from being overridden?

Create the Habit

Set a Calendar Reminder

Use the Pomodoro Technique

Structure Your Day to Protect Your Time

Taking Breaks at Work: Key Takeaways

If you’re like me, Jess, and many others, make time for self-care at work and take your breaks. These are the key self-care strategies to remember when preparing to take breaks at work.

Figure out what type of break works best for you

Determine how much time you typically have/what times of the day you can take breaks

Create the habit by planning your break times

Are you a manager trying to protect your team’s time? Or just great at keeping time for yourself? Comment below to share your break-challenges or best tips for in-office self-care!

from Marketing https://www.distilled.net/resources/self-care-strategies-for-the-workplace/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

heavenwheel · 5 years

Text

Self-Care Strategies for the Workplace

Rest & Productivity Go Hand in Hand

Taking Breaks at Work: Find the Type of Break That Works For YOU

I’ve broken down break-types into three simple buckets. You can mix and match or scale up or scale down depending on your individual job needs and how much time you have on a given day.

Self-Care Strategies

1.Get Moving

2. Get Outside

3. Switch Gears

Pro Tip: Unless you’re diligent about not getting distracted or procrastinating, this is probably not the best type of break if you work from home or are self-employed.

Make the Right Break Fit in Your Schedule

Okay, now that you have some types of breaks that might work for you, how do you actually plug them into your busy day?

Figure out which times of the day work best to take a break (and for how long)

5-30 Minute Break Ideas

Go for a short walk

Have a (healthy) snack

Listen to a podcast

Meditate and breathe (the Headspace app has sessions ranging from 3 minutes to two hours)

Short exercise or stretching (here’s a good article of stretches you can do at your desk)

Watch a video or TED talk

Use that craft or hobby: knit, journal, draw, doodle, design, Pinterest, play puzzles or games

Catch up with a friend or colleague

30-60 Minute Break Ideas

Sneak in a session at the gym or a class (many places are offering shorter lunch-time classes)

Walk to a destination - a new coffee place or lunch spot

Have your lunch in a nearby scenic area

Invite a colleague for a walk to play a board game / card game

Watch some longer videos

Make more time for your craft or hobby

Make plans with someone from another office or outside-of-work friend

*Some of these are may replace a lunch-break if you have a job where you can eat while working at other times.

Protect Your Break Time at Work

Congrats, you’ve figured out what type of break you want to try and when you’ll do it! But how do you prevent that time you carved out for yourself from being overridden?

Create the Habit

Set a Calendar Reminder

Use the Pomodoro Technique

Structure Your Day to Protect Your Time

Taking Breaks at Work: Key Takeaways

If you’re like me, Jess, and many others, make time for self-care at work and take your breaks. These are the key self-care strategies to remember when preparing to take breaks at work.

Figure out what type of break works best for you

Determine how much time you typically have/what times of the day you can take breaks

Create the habit by planning your break times

Are you a manager trying to protect your team’s time? Or just great at keeping time for yourself? Comment below to share your break-challenges or best tips for in-office self-care!

from Digital https://www.distilled.net/resources/self-care-strategies-for-the-workplace/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

davidrsmithlove · 5 years

Text

Self-Care Strategies for the Workplace

Rest & Productivity Go Hand in Hand

Taking Breaks at Work: Find the Type of Break That Works For YOU

I’ve broken down break-types into three simple buckets. You can mix and match or scale up or scale down depending on your individual job needs and how much time you have on a given day.

Self-Care Strategies

1.Get Moving

2. Get Outside

3. Switch Gears

Pro Tip: Unless you’re diligent about not getting distracted or procrastinating, this is probably not the best type of break if you work from home or are self-employed.

Make the Right Break Fit in Your Schedule

Okay, now that you have some types of breaks that might work for you, how do you actually plug them into your busy day?

Figure out which times of the day work best to take a break (and for how long)

5-30 Minute Break Ideas

Go for a short walk

Have a (healthy) snack

Listen to a podcast

Meditate and breathe (the Headspace app has sessions ranging from 3 minutes to two hours)

Short exercise or stretching (here’s a good article of stretches you can do at your desk)

Watch a video or TED talk

Use that craft or hobby: knit, journal, draw, doodle, design, Pinterest, play puzzles or games

Catch up with a friend or colleague

30-60 Minute Break Ideas

Sneak in a session at the gym or a class (many places are offering shorter lunch-time classes)

Walk to a destination - a new coffee place or lunch spot

Have your lunch in a nearby scenic area

Invite a colleague for a walk to play a board game / card game

Watch some longer videos

Make more time for your craft or hobby

Make plans with someone from another office or outside-of-work friend

*Some of these are may replace a lunch-break if you have a job where you can eat while working at other times.

Protect Your Break Time at Work

Congrats, you’ve figured out what type of break you want to try and when you’ll do it! But how do you prevent that time you carved out for yourself from being overridden?

Create the Habit

Set a Calendar Reminder

Use the Pomodoro Technique

Structure Your Day to Protect Your Time

Taking Breaks at Work: Key Takeaways

If you’re like me, Jess, and many others, make time for self-care at work and take your breaks. These are the key self-care strategies to remember when preparing to take breaks at work.

Figure out what type of break works best for you

Determine how much time you typically have/what times of the day you can take breaks

Create the habit by planning your break times

Are you a manager trying to protect your team’s time? Or just great at keeping time for yourself? Comment below to share your break-challenges or best tips for in-office self-care!

0 notes

donnafmae · 5 years

Text

Self-Care Strategies for the Workplace

Rest & Productivity Go Hand in Hand

Taking Breaks at Work: Find the Type of Break That Works For YOU

I’ve broken down break-types into three simple buckets. You can mix and match or scale up or scale down depending on your individual job needs and how much time you have on a given day.

Self-Care Strategies

1.Get Moving

2. Get Outside

3. Switch Gears

Pro Tip: Unless you’re diligent about not getting distracted or procrastinating, this is probably not the best type of break if you work from home or are self-employed.

Make the Right Break Fit in Your Schedule

Okay, now that you have some types of breaks that might work for you, how do you actually plug them into your busy day?

Figure out which times of the day work best to take a break (and for how long)

5-30 Minute Break Ideas

Go for a short walk

Have a (healthy) snack

Listen to a podcast

Meditate and breathe (the Headspace app has sessions ranging from 3 minutes to two hours)

Short exercise or stretching (here’s a good article of stretches you can do at your desk)

Watch a video or TED talk

Use that craft or hobby: knit, journal, draw, doodle, design, Pinterest, play puzzles or games

Catch up with a friend or colleague

30-60 Minute Break Ideas

Sneak in a session at the gym or a class (many places are offering shorter lunch-time classes)

Walk to a destination - a new coffee place or lunch spot

Have your lunch in a nearby scenic area

Invite a colleague for a walk to play a board game / card game

Watch some longer videos

Make more time for your craft or hobby

Make plans with someone from another office or outside-of-work friend

*Some of these are may replace a lunch-break if you have a job where you can eat while working at other times.

Protect Your Break Time at Work

Congrats, you’ve figured out what type of break you want to try and when you’ll do it! But how do you prevent that time you carved out for yourself from being overridden?

Create the Habit

Set a Calendar Reminder

Use the Pomodoro Technique

Structure Your Day to Protect Your Time

Taking Breaks at Work: Key Takeaways

If you’re like me, Jess, and many others, make time for self-care at work and take your breaks. These are the key self-care strategies to remember when preparing to take breaks at work.

Figure out what type of break works best for you

Determine how much time you typically have/what times of the day you can take breaks

Create the habit by planning your break times

Are you a manager trying to protect your team’s time? Or just great at keeping time for yourself? Comment below to share your break-challenges or best tips for in-office self-care!

from Marketing https://www.distilled.net/resources/self-care-strategies-for-the-workplace/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

#Digital Marketing

0 notes

ergohacks · 7 years

Text

The Ergohacks Verdict

A great place to work is no good if you can’t concentrate. There are a lot of things that can be distractions but probably the biggest is noise – or rather the wrong noise. It’s possible to buy a noise cancelling headset that can give you a little quiet but some people work best with a certain type of noise. This might be anything from a background bubbling brook to classical music or possibly coffee shop noises. There’s a range of research done that looks at what the best type of sounds and music to aid concentration are and I’ve read a fair amount of it. I can sum it up to two points. One. Most but not all people can concentrate better or be more creative with the right music or background sounds. Two. Almost everyone has a different idea of what their ideal noise is.

Focus@Will is a service that gives you access to streamed background noise and music. They’ve a range of styles and types that can be set to play continuously at different ‘energy’ levels. The idea is that you experiment and find out which is best for you for either your concentration or creativity and can soundtrack your work perfectly. The different channels are very much a personal choice and I found that they worked for me in different ways at the different times of the day. Coffee shop background in the morning, classical in the afternoon and water in the evening seemed to be my ideal.

The background sound can be set to play indefinitely or with a built-in timer. I found the timer great for helping me get my head down for a half hour or forty-five-minute slots without being concerned about the clock. If you’re a user of the Pomodoro Technique it would fit very well into your workflow. The timer also has a tracker built it that lets you rate how productive the session was and although that was interesting it isn’t detailed enough to give you an indication as to why a particular day productive.

Focus@Will is available via web browser, with PC and Mac apps and on Android and iOS. I found the web interface worked well, the PC apps were just packaged web pages but I was less impressed by the mobile apps. The Android app stopped playing at random points and whenever stopped by an external event such as a phone call did not reestablish itself. That’s not to say it’s useless – I found it excellent for helping me block out the background on the train but a little more reliability and the ability to cache would be ideal changes.

All in all, I’ve found Focus@Will surprisingly effective. It didn’t magically endow me with a perfect ability to concentrate but it did give me a little bit of an edge and let me get my head further into a problem. The Android app’s bugs let the service down a lot – the ability to play from your phone would help significantly but it’s still worthwhile on the PC. They offer a 14-day trial which is more than enough time to see if it works for you. It’s not a cheap service but over a year if you work in a job where you need to concentrate in a noisy environment it might be worth it. Recommended.

Buy it from the Focus@Will website +

Price: ± $100 (£77) for a year or $35 (£27) for three months Discounts: They seem to run 50% off sales to coincide with regular US holidays such as Labor Day or Thanksgiving which can lock you into the discounted price. This would make an annual membership £38

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Features

Focus@Will has X different soundtracks and each can be set to low, medium or high energy. The soundtracks are of two types – main and Labs. In the main there is Classical, Electro Bach, Focus Spa, Uptempo, Alpha Chill, Classical Piano, Acoustical, Cinematic, Ambient, Water and ADHD Type 1. In Labs, there is Propellor Drone, Neuro Space, Baroque Piano, Oct Beta Test Cafe Focus Beta, Cafe Creative Beta, Drums & Hums Beta, Drums and Hums Turbo Beta, Drum Zone Beta, Hand Drums & Hums Beta, Hand Drum & Hums Turbo, Kora Beta, Kora Beta with Entrainment.

I’m not going to try and detail every soundtrack but they all share some things in common – long individual tracks that blend together and a lack of distinctive elements such as singing. It’s also possible to permanently skip tracks that you find distracting.

Focus@will is available via an HTML5 Web app in your browser, via new Windows, Mac and Linux apps and on iOS and on Android. All the apps are containerised web pages making them a bit more convenient to get to but fundamentally not different from whatever the website experience on your platform would be.

Requirements

The iOS app requires iOS 8.0 or later and Android 4.0.3 and up. Both they and the web app require an always-on internet connection and there is no way to cache or download the playlists.

We based our Ergohacks Verdict on four weeks of tinkering, testing and using Focus@Will during September 2017. This article was first published on 21 September 2017.

Focus@Will The Ergohacks Verdict A great place to work is no good if you can't concentrate. There are a lot of things that can be distractions but probably the biggest is noise - or rather the wrong noise.

#Educational

0 notes

vivianrhopper85 · 8 years

Text

Grazie Ristorante

With high-rise buildings popping up as fast as they can build them, and the major Eglington Crosstown project, Yonge and Eglington is a neighbourhood that is rapidly becoming a major intersection in downtown Toronto. As with any changing neighbourhood, the staples — the places people have always known about, but which relish their under-the-radar reputation — are often the best discoveries. Grazie website boasts that they’ve been operating for 25 years, and it’s the simplicity of their approach — simple Italian dishes done properly — that’s behind that success.

Beet Appetizer by Grazie

Décor

Grazie is unassuming, in a way. It forgoes the minimalist, fine dining approach in favour of a simple — if expected — Italian decor, in a space that has been organized to maximize the number of tables. To some, this might be a turnoff, but I would argue that it is one of Grazie’s strengths, rather. With cliche Italian decor and plenty of tables, the message that the restaurant sends is clear: you’re here to eat, and let’s help you do that.

The walls are styled to look and feel like you are in a small restaurant somewhere in everyday Italy; there are paintings on the walls, and posters for Birra Moretti, and other Italian staples. Vines hand over the entrance to the kitchen. The wood accents give the restaurant an old, worn-in comfort that, as the snow started blowing harder and harder outside, made it feel warmer and warmer inside. Nothing about the decor will sweep you off your feet, but I get the sense that it was never intended to. What’s left is familiarity and comfort.

Atmosphere

Even shortly after 5 p.m., when I walked in, there were small crowds gathering. You can overhear people talking about what they’re going to order "this time," suggesting to me that the atmosphere is a comfortable one, filled with people who feel at home here. As more people file in, this continues: one couple orders without looking at the menu, for instance. Coupled with the homestyle Italian food, it feels distinctly as if you’ve stumbled upon something that others did long before you — not quite a hidden gem, but a restaurant that once you take a chance on, delivers.

Bruchetta by Grazie

Menu Range

If there’s anything better than good Italian food, it’s an enormous selection of good Italian food — and on that point, Grazie makes good. The menu spares nothing, packing dozens of dishes into two pages. The pasta section is split into four categories — divided by sauce type, be it tomato, cream based, blush sauce, or oil — each with almost ten dishes. That’s in addition to an entire pizza section as well. On top of that, there’s a wide range of salads and appetizers. All of which is suffice to say that selection is not a problem.

Appetizers

I went with a staple: bruschetta. ($6.75) Often times, I steer clear of bruschetta, since it tends to be over-toasted and weighed down by too much topping. I was happy to see that the bruschetta here came deconstructed, letting me put as much (or as little) tomato on my bread as I’d like.

The bread came toasted, but still very moist and rich. The topping was simple: tomatoes, oil, and some herbs. Nothing fancy, but the simplicity of it was perhaps its greatest strength. Rather than hide the natural sweetness of tomatoes, Grazie’s bruschetta keeps it front and centre. The herbs serve as a highlight, rather than standing in the way.

The bruschetta was a small order -- only five pieces of toast -- and I ate an entire order myself with ease. Just something to keep in mind.

Grazie Kitchen

Main Course

I chose the Tasca dish ($17.50), which was a single large stuffed pasta with ricotta, spinach, and brie. IT was the brie that sold me — I don’t see brie in pastas very often, and it was the perfect cheese to balance the ricotta and spinach. The creamy porcini tomato sauce was full of flavour, and I was given a liberal helping. My only complaint about the dish might be that there was more stuffing than pasta, but I was happy to scoop up any that had fallen out with the bread.

Maybe the best part about this dish was the sauce. Cream sauces can often feel excessively milky, and some of the sharp vegetable flavours washed out. While this sauce was creamy, it also maintained the pointed flavour of a good tomato sauce, while leaning heavily on the richness afforded by the creamy base. There was plenty of sauce, and yet I still wanted more of it. I highly recommend any of the pastas served with the suga di pomodoro cremosa sauce.

Dessert

The desert was the point where it most felt like Grazie was phoning it in. While the creme brulee cheesecake ($8) wasn’t not good, per se, it’s hard to argue that it lived up to the rest of the meal, either. It didn’t taste especially fresh, and while it was a tasty treat, I wouldn’t spend $8 on it again. It felt like the sort of dessert that one could find at a high-end grocery store or bakery.

The dessert menu had a wide range of options, though, and I wouldn’t want to discount the whole of the restaurant’s selections simply based on one dish.

Drinks by Grazie

Drink Options

Like any good Italian restaurant, the staple was the wine list. In addition to a healthy beer selection and what appeared to be a well-stocked bar, the wine list offered a couple dozen wines from around the world, in addition to a sizeable section of Italian wines, beginning at affordable prices, and rising from there. Much in keeping with the rest of the restaurant’s atmosphere, nothing on the wine list felt especially pretentious or contrived — just a good selection of wines.

A shout-out here to the coffee, which though a simple order, carried its weight. After a long day (and some time spent in the snow), a coffee was just what I needed, and Steven, my server, went out of his way to improve upon my "cup of black coffee" order to bring me an Americano with some steamed milk on the side. I’m glad he did, because it was a surprisingly good cup. I am a caffeine junkie, and doing a simple coffee well will always impress me.

Service

It always throws servers off when they serve a single person. I’ve spent time travelling, where eating alone is something you get used to. Truth be told, while I like dining with friends, there’s a certain indulgence to sitting down to eat by yourself. Servers, though, tend to do all they can to try to mitigate the awkwardness that they think you’re feeling. On one hand, I’m used to this. On the other, it can really work to the server’s advantage. Steven, my server, was happy to chat about various things on the menu, improve my coffee order, and chat about the book I was reading. I was never rushed, even though I admit I was taking up a prime table by the window by myself. The food came out at a nice, measured pace, and he was quick to check in to make sure there was nothing else I needed.

Pork Tenderloin by Grazie

Feeling Afterwards

Full, as one should be after a homestyle Italian meal. Though Grazie was a bit outside the downtown core, I was certainly happy I made the trek — Yonge and Eglington is a booming neighbourhood, and it feels nice to have found a restaurant there that I’d definitely return to. Places like Grazie are the best finds, but also sometimes the hardest: it isn’t the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of fine dining, but neither does it have a rugged hole-in-the-wall appeal. What it has is good food, done simply and done well. In a growing neighbourhood like Yonge and Eg, it is sure to gain more loyal diners, and I hope that doesn’t change it one bit.

KD00KV

from News And Tip About Real Estate http://jamiesarner.com/toronto-restaurant-reviews/grazie/

0 notes

lucyariablog · 8 years

Text

7 Productivity Killers for Marketers and How to Fix Them

If there is one thing on my mind this year, it’s how we, as marketers, are getting our work done. Not to mince words, but how we work seems broken.

I see the issues with the way I work. All. The. Time.

I want dedicated time in my schedule to create, but I get interrupted or – when I do have time – I can’t seem to focus. Here are just a few common scenarios.

I have an organized list of blog post ideas – and many half-finished articles – but I still scramble to meet deadlines.

My days are filled with scheduled and unplanned phone conversations that result in more ideas – but the more I talk, the less time I have to act.

When I do sit down to do actual work, I am interrupted with pings from IMs or phone calls.

When I struggle with something I’m writing, I check email to see if anything to add came in.

Many marketers I talk to can relate.

We spend so much time responding to immediate needs that it can feel exceedingly difficult to produce something meaningful. Many people wear their busy like a badge of honor, but how much are we truly doing to move our businesses – and our personal selves – forward?

I recently read Deep Work by Cal Newport (highly recommend), and it was an eye-opener. It offered ideas for so many productivity issues I have been grappling with. While many of Cal’s examples hail from academia and tech, there are lessons for marketers who are overwhelmed and who are looking for time to create necessary, great work, even if it is not urgent.

Here are some favorite aha moments on why marketers are having such a tough time being productive – and what we can do about it.

Lacking strategy

It’s no surprise that people aren’t productive if they don’t know what they should do – and how their work will positively impact the business. Cal calls this “The Principle of Least Resistance.” He explains:

In a business setting, without clear feedback on the impact of various behaviors to the bottom line, we will tend toward behaviors that are easiest in the moment.”

In short, if you are feeling unproductive, it could be because you don’t know where you should spend your time.

If you feel unproductive, it could be you don’t know where to spend your time, says @michelelinn. Click To Tweet

A better way: (We say this one all the time.) Document your strategy. If you aren’t certain where to start, seek these three must-have items to help your editorial and marketing teams work their best:

Who can you help the most? (This is the same question as audience, but the semantic change shifts your focus to who you can help instead of who you are targeting.)

How will you help your audience in a way that no one else can? (This is your content tilt.)

How do you define success – and how will you concretely measure this?

Are you thinking, “This all sounds great, but I’m not the person responsible for our strategy.” Or maybe something else is stopping you? Joe Pulizzi recently called out the most common excuses people have, so start here if needed.

Switching from task to task

We all know multitasking ultimately makes you less productive. But, even if you can avoid multitasking, many of us are plagued with going from meeting to meeting or answering whatever issue comes up when it arises.

Cal talks about the term “attention residue,” which Sophie Leroy coined in her 2009 paper, Why Is It So Hard to Do My Work? As Cal explains,

When you switch from some Task A to another Task B, your attention doesn’t immediately follow – a residue of your attention remains stuck thinking about the original task. This residue gets especially thick if your work on Task A was unbounded and of low intensity before you switched, but even if you finish Task A before moving on, your attention remains divided for a while.

A better way: This may sound counterproductive, but I have been letting my brain rest in between tasks – and trying not to constantly jump from one thing to the next. For instance, when I am out of the office, I make an effort to not look at my phone and to become comfortable with silence and quiet. While you may wonder how this helps, it’s letting me build the discipline to turn off – and not always be looking for the next new thing where I need to shift my attention.

Giving in to distraction

I think we can all relate: We’re faced with a difficult task. We put it off and prioritize other work we can get done. But, when we do find the time, we can’t get into our groove and focus. Maybe we overthink the topic or simply feel stuck.

Instead of pushing through, we check email, Twitter, or Facebook to see if anything new needs our attention. (Hint: Nothing typically needs your attention right then, but it’s a great way to feel like you are feeling productive.)

A better way: While the urge to check email or go online won’t necessarily dissipate, train your brain to focus on one task for a time. You need to practice turning off all distractions and doing one thing without stopping.

I often refer to the Pomodoro technique, which is a common method of working for 25 minutes, taking a five-minute break, and then repeating the process. This is a great approach if you are trying to create something or tackle a particularly thorny issue.

I also find success training my brain by reading 20 minutes of a non-fiction book each day. I started this habit last month when I swapped reading with checking email first thing.

While this may sound crazy, I find that this mini-exercise in concentration not only inspires my writing, but it also trains my brain to stay focused. It’s expected that my mind may start to wander, but I don’t stop reading – or give in to the temptation to do something else – for at least 20 minutes. Surprisingly (or not), on the days when I don’t make time to read, I find my mind wanders more easily and I give in to distraction.

Reading for 20 minutes is a concentration exercise that trains my brain to stay focused, says @michelelinn. Click To Tweet

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How to Train Your Brain for Content Marketing Greatness

Being accessible

As a manager and someone who tries to be a helpful colleague and industry peer, I used to put a lot of value on being accessible. While there is something to be said for being available, it’s draining and makes it difficult to have control over your day. What you set out to accomplish simply doesn’t happen. While unscheduled conversations may be helpful, do they need to happen right now?

A better way: I used to consider myself available if I wasn’t on a phone call. Now, I’ve flipped and my default is “unavailable.”

Cal, who hails from academia, suggests having “office hours.” As he and many others have discovered, “people will usually respect your right to become inaccessible if these periods are well-defined and well-advertised, and outside these stretches, you’re once again easy to find.”

Wanting to appear busy

We have all done this: We shoot off a few emails first thing or late at night so people know we’re working. Or we constantly check email during the day so people think we are at our desks. Again, Cal explains:

If you send and answer e-mails at all hours, if you schedule and attend meetings constantly, if you weigh in on instant message systems … within seconds when someone poses a new question, or if you roam your open office bouncing ideas off all whom you encounter – all of these behaviors make you seem busy in a public manner. If you’re using busyness as a proxy for productivity, then these behaviors can seem crucial for convincing yourself and others that you’re doing your job well.”

A better way: Put boundaries on your work life – and prove your worth by what you produce instead of how quickly you answer emails. While I used to value constant connection, I now consider it a hindrance and wish more people would make it a point not to check email so frequently.

Prove your worth by what you produce instead of how quickly you answer emails, says @michelelinn. Click To Tweet

Sharing too much

Another seemingly productive task is sharing your ideas with coworkers. I immediately related to Cal calling out an exceedingly common practice of sending – and getting – emails that simply say, “Thoughts?”

Yes, as the sender, this practice gets the emails out of your inbox, but it can take a lot of time for the person on the other end to decipher and respond. And, what you are thinking is often on a different train of thought than what spurred the sender to forward something in the first place. At times, a train of fruitless emails ensues, and, even if you do find an agreement, should this item even be a priority?

A better way: I often think back to these words of wisdom from Robert Rose who talks about the time and care it took to send interoffice memos 20-plus years ago. Given that process, you only sent a memo when you had something important to share. But now, we share more because it’s easy. But is this truly the best thing for your teams? I challenge you to think about what you are sending via email. Just because you can, should you – and should you send it now? Will this help your coworkers do their job better or will this send them down an unproductive path?

Ideally, your team would have a central place to store ideas that don’t need immediate attention but which you don’t want to lose. But, if this resource doesn’t exist, batch your ideas for people and share them at regular intervals so you can prioritize what needs to happen when.

Not prioritizing projects

Another productivity killer related to lack of strategy and sharing too much is not prioritizing your most important projects. For many of us, it’s easy to come up with ideas, and, to an extent, brainstorming has this aura of productivity to it. It feels like you are doing something even though nothing concrete is delivered.

Lack of strategy & not prioritizing most important projects are #productivity killers, says @michelelinn. Click To Tweet

A better way: I recently shared some ideas on how to get control of your ideas and be systematic with how you knock them out one by one. Agile marketing is an even more rigorous approach to identifying and working on your most important tasks first. It’s something I am learning more about this year, as I think it will be a boon to productivity. Andrea Fryrear, my go-to person for Agile marketing, recently answered common questions about this increasingly popular approach.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

7 Ways Limitations Can Boost Your Content Creation Productivity

10 Ways to Save Time in Creating Content

I’d love to hear from you. What is killing your creativity (i.e., driving you crazy with your process)? What other ideas do you have for working more efficiently?

When you go to your inbox, do you want to open one email that will help your content marketing productivity, processes, or strategy? Subscribe for CMI’s free daily email or simplify and sign up for the weekly digest.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

The post 7 Productivity Killers for Marketers and How to Fix Them appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

from http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/02/productivity-killers-marketers-solutions/

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