Episode 87 - Take a Break!

<h2 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><strong>Summary</strong></h2> <p class="">We routinely prioritise activities that have a deadline over far more important but not urgent activities. That includes our tendency to sacrifice breaks when we’re busy. But a break might be exactly what we need to boost our performance.</p> <p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true"> </p> <h2><strong>Transcript</strong></h2> <p class="">Hello and welcome to episode 87 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we tackle one of today’s biggest leadership challenges. This week we look at the importance of taking breaks to achieve even higher levels of performance.</p> <p class="">Researchers call it the mere urgency effect. It’s the finding that people routinely prioritise tasks with a deadline independent of their importance, over far more important tasks that don’t have a deadline. So even if another activity has much greater potential for outcomes, we will instead focus on a task with a deadline even if it isn’t really that important. The researchers found that this effect is even more pronounced in those who consider themselves to be ‘busy’. </p> <p class="">Being busy and being effective rarely go together. We have work cultures that celebrate busy-ness above all else. I remember being cc’d on a farewell email which repeatedly spoke about the long hours this person worked, and how they had earned a rest in retirement. There was no mention of the outcomes they achieved, the difference they made to the business, or the legacy they left in others - just the long hours and the well-earned rest. Is that what you want to hear at your retirement?</p> <p class="">The science shows that we need both stress and recovery to be truly effective. Long hours without breaks are not good for productivity and performance. Taking this to the next level, a few organisations have trialled four day weeks. In these cases employees were paid the same as they would have received for a five day week but only needed to work four days. The shorter of the two stud