Taking a break without feeling guilty.
4 min readGina Rumawas
You know breaks are good for you. Still, you eat lunch at your desk and push that walk to tomorrow. And when you do stop for a moment, it feels like you're doing something wrong. Sound familiar? You're not the only one.
Why a break feels like failing
Many people learned somewhere along the way that working hard means being good. If you slow down, you're not doing enough. That idea runs deep, often since childhood. Your mind knows better, but the feeling stays.
That's exactly the kind of pattern that lives in your subconscious. You can tell yourself a hundred times that rest is important. As long as the old feeling is there, stopping feels uncomfortable.
What a break gives you
Top athletes have known it for a long time: performance comes in waves. Effort and recovery belong together. Without recovery, you don't go faster, you go slower. You make more mistakes, you make worse decisions and you get tired sooner.
So a break isn't an interruption of your work. It's part of it.
How to build in rest, even on busy days
Keep it small. Five minutes counts too. Take a short walk, drink a glass of water by the window or breathe out deeply a few times.
Link it to something fixed. Two minutes of nothing after every meeting. Ten minutes outside after lunch. The more fixed the moment, the less you have to think about it.
Leave your screen behind. A break with your phone in your hand is no break for your mind.
Notice the feeling, and go anyway. The guilt will probably show up. Notice it, and take your break anyway. Every time, it gets a little easier.
When the guilt stays
Can't seem to let go of the old feeling, even though you know it doesn't make sense? Then hypnosis can help. We find out where the feeling comes from and you teach your subconscious a new response. So that taking a break feels normal again.
Want to know whether this is a good fit for you? Book a complimentary 30-minute intro call.
