Friendly Reminder: You Shouldn’t Feel Guilty for Taking a Break
We’re just under a month into the new year and so many people I know are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Easing back into our regular routines post-holidays sounded like a nice idea, but real life had other plans! Let’s try not to get too caught up in work and life and remember that we deserve moments of rest.
A Recap on Winter Moods
Fall and winter can cause us to be sleepier, moodier, and experience some physical changes as well. Though we are now in a new year, the season hasn’t changed. Winter is still a time for rest, reflection, and recuperation.
For those who feel they’re not busier than they were last year but are still exhausted, I think this could explain why. No, humans don’t hibernate, but we’re in a hunker-down-and-rest mode, and the same amount of effort might feel much more difficult.
The last few newsletters of 2022 often talked about topics ranging from the way fall and winter affect human functioning to surviving the stress and excitement of the holidays. In essence, we finish the end of the year with high emotions and bodies that need more rest. In the new year, most of us haven’t actually had the opportunity to rest more or take breaks, or we might be feeling guilty about resting and relaxing when there’s so much work to do.
Let’s dig into this guilt a little more and talk about why breaks and rest are so vital to our health and wellness.
Acknowledging that Rest is Treated as a Luxury
Before I go any further, I think it’s important to make note of how most people (and corporations) view rest as a luxury. Paid time off, or the ability to take time off without financial consequences, is rare. Not to mention how many people play roles in their lives where time off doesn’t exist, like caretakers and parents.
It would be wrong to address the significance of self-care and relaxation without also addressing how nearly impossible it is to have time for these things. For some, a few minutes of quiet time is the only rest they get. No spa days, weekend vacations, or hours of ease. This is why normalizing little breaks and allowing ourselves to enjoy our short time away from responsibilities is so important.
Not having the resources or luxury to take extended breaks doesn’t mean we don’t deserve moments of peace and quiet to breathe. Society might think otherwise, but those are the opinions doing damage in the first place.
What Science Says About Breaks
Remember that overworking yourself now could mean you'll be forced to rest later due to exhaustion or illness. Avoid that by taking a break and getting some rest.
The Side Effects of Stress
Though I haven’t addressed stress specifically here, it shows up right along with exhaustion and can lead to problems like headaches, heart problems, hypertension, depression, anxiety, and worse. By taking a few moments to ourselves and practicing some relaxation techniques, we’re reducing the severity of symptoms like those above.
The Benefits of Breaks
If you're anything like me, your quality of work will likely improve if you let yourself step away and come back after a little rest. In fact, there’s research to show this is true!
This article highlights research on breaks and productivity, finding that “breaks can reduce or prevent stress, help to maintain performance throughout the day and reduce the need for a long recovery at the end of the day.”
The article also mentions taking non-work-related breaks, referred to as relaxation and social breaks. It states “[a] relaxing break can help to facilitate recovery, by returning your mental and psychical functional systems to their baseline…Social breaks, such as chatting with your peers, have also been found to be beneficial…[showing] a positive association with feeling recovered after the break.”
A Study on Relaxation Techniques in Elderly Populations
This study on stress and elderly populations found relaxation techniques, such as meditation and progressive muscle relaxation, to assist in “reducing symptoms of anxiety, related cognitive difficulties, physical symptoms, especially tension headaches and increasing immunity through the diminishment of stress.” Though you might not be part of the targeted demographic, I think it’s fair to say that most individuals, regardless of age, will see some benefit from relaxation techniques. We’ll discuss progressive muscle relaxation more below.
Relaxation Techniques
As previously mentioned, progressive muscle relaxation is an effective relaxation technique in elderly populations. This method involves tensing up certain muscles and then relaxing them. The paper I linked above provides a relaxation sequence you can follow on your own. This is a great technique to use when you’re short on time, have limited space, or don’t have the energy for a more involved method.
This Harvard Medical School Special Medical Report on Stress Relief provides a table (on page 11) with six methods of relaxation. These include body scans, yoga, and mindfulness meditation. Along with a short description of each technique, the report includes to whom these techniques may or may not be especially useful. I encourage you to check it out!
If the idea of trying to relax sounds like too much for you, start with simply taking a break!
This article from The Wellbeing Thesis (a resource for postgraduate research students) recommends setting an alarm on your phone to prompt a break. They also encourage you to plan to do something you enjoy on your break, giving you something to look forward to.
If you’re in need of time away from responsibilities but don’t want to sit still, take a walk! This study finds that walking indoors versus outdoors isn’t significantly different, and the benefit of movement is more important than where we move. That being said, research also shows that being in outdoor natural environments has a number of health benefits, including stress reduction, so try to get outside if you can.
Something as simple as getting coffee with a friend, taking a bath, or reading a few chapters of a good book can offer a little relief from our regular stress too. Find something you enjoy and let yourself have a moment of peace!
Being Intentional
Knowing you should rest and actually being able to are two different things. Also, intentionally resting and simply not working are entirely separate activities that won’t benefit us the same way. All the supporting research and relaxation techniques in the world won’t help those who don’t feel they deserve it.
I think a lot of people will relate to the experience of an overachiever or hard worker. We don’t take dedicated breaks, which means every moment without work feels like failing. The time we spend sitting on our phones during meals, watching an episode of some TV show, or trying to read a few chapters of a book can end up making us more stressed out as we think about all the work and chores still left to do.
The push to work hard and be successful and efficient doesn't necessarily keep us from stepping away from work, but it might keep us from fully enjoying and appreciating the time we get to ourselves.
When we don’t view these moments as an intentional break, it’s more difficult to fully rest and relax because we think we should be working. We need to allow ourselves this time, guilt-free if we don’t want to be overwhelmed and burnt out all the time.
Though I think it’s unfair that all the responsibility is put on the individual to make time for rest and relaxation, we can’t wait for things to change to instill these moments of self-care. Give yourself permission to take a break because no one is going to do it for you!
The Takeaway
Honestly, I think the end of the last paragraph summed up what I want to say here.
Give yourself permission to take a break because no one is going to do it for you.
We need rest and breaks in order to reduce stress and function well. There’s a stigma around relaxation, rest, and self-care that can make it difficult to enjoy your moments away from responsibility without guilt, but science shows the importance of this time off.
Whether you read a book, meditate, do yoga, or just breathe, finding a few moments to shut the world off and focus on yourself can make all the difference.