Mode Shift: Break

Hey - It’s Michael.

Dancing with a friend in Budapest, what a beautiful city! Enjoy the newsletter!

You’re in deep work mode, hyperfocussed on the task. Suddenly, it’s 4 hours later, and you've forgotten to eat and drink, and you’re completely exhausted.

Or you’re in deep work mode, but do 1 break after an hour or so, check your phone, scroll on this page or that app. After you can’t get your focus back on again, it’s just too hard.

Accept your ADHD Brain:

Low dopamine levels impair attention shifting. ¹

The key to harnessing the power of your hyperfocus in a healthy way is to plan ahead for brakes.

Set up the environment in such a way so that it ensures regular healthy breaks that help your body & mind regain energy but avoid to kick you out of the zone.

In essence, the break activity needs to be less stimulating than your work activity.

Thus, avoid any screen during your break.

Here’s a list of a few break activities that let your mind rest & recover.

Currently, there is no scientific break pattern that fits every person, so you need to experiment. Find out what works best for you: Try 10min work, 3 min break for a few days. Then try 25 min & 5 min breaks and so on.

Never do more than 4h of focussed work in one go - to avoid burnout.

The key to make it work is: use a physical timer (any egg timer will do) & prepare your environment for the break.

For example: if you want to juggle, put the juggle balls somewhere behind you.

Stop Rule

Stop using your phone or your laptop during breaks.

In time, you’ll notice that healthy breaks let you finish work with less exhaustion & agitation - and work more effectively.

“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” - Sydney J. Harris

See you next week - Michael