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Taking Real Breaks at Work
For anyone who eats lunch at the desk, skips breaks, and reaches the end of the workday drained. Each day is one small way to step away, reset your body and mind, and come back clearer, whatever kind of work you do.
Work · Work · Burnout · Stress · one to-do a day · you choose how many days
The first seven days
- Day 1Eat lunch today somewhere other than the spot where you work, even if it is just a different chair across the room.
- Day 2Between your first two tasks this morning, sit back, drop your hands into your lap and do nothing for two full minutes.
- Day 3Roll your shoulders slowly backward five times, then forward five times, before you open the next thing on your list.
- Day 4Fill a water bottle at the start of your shift and set it where you can see it, then refill it once before lunch.
- Day 5Step outside for five minutes this morning and let daylight hit your face before you go back in.
- Day 6Every time you finish an email or task today, look at something at least twenty feet away for twenty seconds.
- Day 7Take a ten-minute walk at lunch, around the block, the parking lot or the hallways, and leave the work thoughts at your desk.
Further into the year
The to-dos keep changing as the year goes on. A few from later in this theme:
- Day 30Take a full sip of water each time you sit back down after getting up today.
- Day 60On a weekend shift, take your break somewhere that feels like a weekend, like a sunny bench or a quiet corner with a book.
- Day 120If you work out of a truck or van, step out at your next stop, stretch your arms overhead and look at the horizon for a minute.
- Day 240Make lunch the night before with one ingredient you are looking forward to.
- Day 365On a long double shift, plan two real breaks ahead of time and tell your lead when you will take them.
How a challenge works
A Theraglee challenge is a theme with one small to-do for every day of a year. You choose how long yours runs, anywhere from a week to the full year, and each day you get the next to-do: something that takes a few minutes and fits inside an ordinary day. Tick it off when it is done. Nothing is scored and nothing is lost if you miss a day; the next to-do is simply waiting when you come back.
Challenges come with a free Theraglee account, which never asks for a card. Your progress stays private to you.