"Know when to take a break": Lessons for Living, by Dr Neil Thompson

Most workplaces seem to be very pressurized places these days.

One of the dangers of this is that some people respond to pressures in ways that can make the situation worse.

For example, it is not uncommon for busy people not to take a break. They seem to think that they are so busy that they just have to press on.

But if we don’t give our bodies and our minds the opportunity to recover from the strain we put them under in pressurized circumstances, we risk making ourselves ill through stress.

We are also more likely to make mistakes, to be less creative, to fail to learn, to be more anxious and defensive in our practice, to gain less job satisfaction and ultimately burn ourselves out.

It is only in exceptional circumstances that we should have to work through time that should be set aside for taking a break.

If that is happening regularly, then either there is a fundamental issue around work overload that needs to be addressed or we are not being sufficiently disciplined in our self-care and we are allowing ourselves to risk being overstretched, with potentially serious consequences.