Scheduling Downtime Effectively

You’re not burned out—you’re just taking breaks the wrong way. Here’s how to fix it, based on science. Want to perform better? Take better breaks. Breaks today are where sleep was 15 years ago—underrated and misunderstood. But how you take a break matters. Most people think more work = more productivity. But research shows that strategic breaks are the real key to staying sharp. The problem? Most of us take breaks that don’t actually help. Scrolling alone at your desk? Not it. Here’s how to take a break that actually works: Move, don’t sit – Walk, stretch, or get outside instead of staying glued to your chair. Movement resets your brain. Go outside, not inside – Fresh air and sunlight restore energy and boost creativity. Be social, not solo – Breaks are more effective when taken with someone else. Fully unplug – Leave your phone. No work talk. No emails. No scrolling. Just a real reset. Try this: Take a 10-minute walk outside with a colleague. Talk about anything but work. Leave your phone at your desk. Watch how much better you feel—and perform. Breaks aren’t a luxury. They’re a performance tool. Treat them like it. Got a break routine that works for you? Drop it below Or send this to someone who needs a real break.

Either you control it, or it will control you! Our bodies and minds have limits, and ignoring the need for rest can lead to significant consequences. When we push ourselves too hard without taking regular breaks, we risk burnout, decreased productivity, and health problems. This forced downtime often occurs at the worst possible moments, disrupting our personal and professional lives. So, please: Schedule Regular Breaks: Integrate short breaks into your daily routine. For example, use the Pomodoro Technique—work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. After four cycles, take a longer break of 15-30 minutes. Prioritise Sleep: Ensure you get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Good sleep hygiene, such as a regular bedtime and limiting screen time before bed, can improve sleep quality. Take Vacations: Plan and take regular vacations to recharge. Even short getaways can significantly impact your mental and physical health. Listen to Your Body: Pay attention to signs of fatigue, stress, and burnout. If you feel overwhelmed, take a step back and rest, even if it's just for a few hours. Incorporate Wellness Activities: Engage in activities that promote relaxation and well-being, such as exercise, meditation, hobbies, or spending time in nature. Set Boundaries: Learn to say no and set boundaries to protect your time and energy. Avoid overcommitting and ensure you have time for rest and recovery. By proactively scheduling breaks and prioritising self-care, you can maintain your health, enhance productivity, and avoid inconvenient and disruptive forced breaks.

We just got back from our best away days ever. Here's 6 things I've learned about putting on retreats: 𝟭. 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 💚 • Retreats with the whole team are about instilling our values, culture and history. • Forgetting about outputs takes all the pressure off, and it's a much better way of setting up the team for success. 𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 🧘 • Decide on the balance of work vs play, and then don't let anything eat into the play time. • The ultimate purpose of time away - for us at least - is bonding with each other. That won't happen if you're always working. 𝟯. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲. 🎨 • We're away for two nights. We used to pack in training and workshops on all kinds of topics. Interesting? Yes. Coherent? No. And all that shifting of focus takes its toll. • Now we pick a theme and build a narrative around it, so everything flows from one session to the next. This year's theme? Exploring creativity. 𝟰. 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝘂𝗽 👂 • Hands up who wants to hear from the leadership team for 48 hours straight. No one? • As leaders our job is to pick the theme and desired outcomes and then get out of the way to let the team bring it to life. • This year, as ever, I was astounded by what they came up with (even when I found myself interviewing a wooden barrel for 15 minutes...🧐). 𝟱. 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗙𝗧𝗪 🙌 • One of our values is "for everyone". That applies to our own events as well as our environmental campaigns. • Some people love organised fun. Others just want to chill with a book. One of the nicest things I heard from a colleague this year is that the away days now worked for the introverts too! 𝟲. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗺𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 🍪 • There seems to be close correlation between the quality and quantity of food and drink on offer, and the success of the event. • Coincidence? Maybe. But, as we once discovered to our cost, a hungry team is not a happy team. Err on the side of plenty (but trust us, you don't need the fried egg flavour crisps 🤢) There's much more, but that seems like a good place to start and, after two days of non-stop talking, I need a rest myself. 🥱 ++ P.S. I'm CEO of environmental charity Hubbub. We bring business, government and civil society together to create campaigns that inspire & support people to make choices that are good for the environment. Follow me - Alex Robinson - for insights on environmental change, leadership and more. #environment #sustainability #leadership

How I'm Structuring Our Core Team Retreat to Prepare for 2026 In a few weeks time, I'm taking our five-person core team at e27 (Optimatic) off-site for 2.5 days. Not a typical team bonding exercise, this is strategic preparation work. Thaddeus Jit Siong Koh, Christine Galolo, Justin C., Hung N.: I haven't shared the pre-treated handbook yet but here's a sneak peak of the process. The Philosophy Most leaders underestimate the power of undistracted, collective thinking time. When you remove Slack notifications and daily firefighting, something shifts. People get vulnerable. They think deeper. They connect dots they'd never see in a conference room between meetings. This retreat isn't about trust falls. It's about creating a structured environment where we honestly assess our year, confront our failures, and align on what 2026 demands from us. The Structure 80% structured sessions, 20% informal time. Key sessions I'm facilitating (learned through coaching): - Getting Naked: Vulnerability exercises - Gratitude: Acknowledging what worked - Self-Reflection: Individual introspection - Full Year Visualization: Projecting into December 2026 The Pre-Work Matters Here's what most retreat planning gets wrong: people show up unprepared and spend the first day thinking through basics. I'm requiring significant pre-work. Everyone comes with their thinking done. At the retreat, we're examining thought processes, challenging assumptions, and making decisions, not doing the initial thinking. Dissecting Our Misses One session focuses on what we failed at this year. For each miss, we're categorizing: - Execution/reactor issues? (We knew what to do, didn't do it well) - People issues? (Wrong team, roles, capabilities) - Market/timing? (Right idea, wrong moment) - Strategic misalignment? (Shouldn't have done this at all) This framework prevents the trap of "let's just work harder" when the real issue is strategic. The AI Question We're dedicating serious time to AI's impact on our business model. Not surface-level discussions but deep strategic conversations about how AI reshapes media, events, and community building in our space. Why Every Voice Matters I'm facilitating, but this isn't my retreat, it's ours. Five people, equal voices. In small teams, hierarchy can't hide dysfunction. Everyone sees everything. So everyone needs to be part of solving everything. What Success Looks Like Two dimensions: 1. Qualitative: How does each person feel about our direction? 2. Quantitative: Do we leave with clear decisions and concrete plans? Feelings without plans are therapy. Plans without emotional buy-in gather dust. We need both. For Fellow Founders The best retreats I've experienced weren't the most fun, they were the most uncomfortable. They forced hard conversations we'd been avoiding. That's what separates a retreat from a holiday. When's the last time you gave your core team uninterrupted time to think together? Not plan. Not execute. Just... think?

Most people think rest means doing nothing. But it doesn't work that way. When I was rebuilding my career after leaving law, I discovered something that changed how I approach rest completely. I was exhausted from constant decision-making, yet lying on the sofa scrolling my phone left me feeling more drained than before. The science explains why: Your brain has different networks that need different types of recovery. Here's how to match your rest to your work:   🪑 If you work sitting down, don't rest sitting down too. ↳ Movement restores circulation and energy   💻 If you're glued to screens, rest with no tech involved. ↳ Digital detox helps your eyes and attention recover   🛋️ If you barely move all day, use your free time to move your body. ↳ Physical activity resets your nervous system   📢 If it’s loud where you work, be somewhere quiet when you're done. ↳ Silence helps lower stress and brain fatigue   🏢 If you're indoors all the time, get outside where there's space to breathe. ↳ Natural settings lower cortisol and sharpen focus   🧠 If your work is mentally heavy, do something that doesn't need thinking. ↳ Cognitive rest lets your brain process and consolidate   🗣️ If you're around people all day, spend time alone with no interruptions. ↳ Solitude restores your social processing capacity Research backs this up: different types of fatigue require different recovery methods. When you match your rest to your work, your body actually restores itself. This completely shifted how I approach downtime.  No more wondering why I still feel drained after a day off. Rest isn't one size fits all. Your work style should guide your recovery style. What type of rest works best for your work style? Let me know in the comments. ♻️ Repost to help someone rest better 👉 Follow Lauren Murrell for more like this

In my 20s, I thought working 80 hours a week made me successful. In my 40s, I realized it made me stupid. Sure, I made money, hit President’s Club, led massive deals. But it wasn’t until I started resting that I actually built wealth. Today, I want to explain why REST is the ultimate Revenue Generating Activity. And how top performers use it to make more money in less time. Most salespeople still think “grind” equals “growth.” But here’s the truth: revenue-generating activities (RGAs) only work when you have the energy to do them. You can’t prospect powerfully when you’re running on fumes. You can’t lead impactful calls when your brain is foggy. You can’t close big deals if your energy is small. That’s why I started teaching my team a new kind of RGA: Rest-Generating Activities. Rest-Generating Activities are the foundation that make real RGAs possible. Because what kills most AEs isn’t lack of talent. It’s fatigue. They waste energy on the wrong things — Slack, internal meetings, busywork — and then try to prospect in survival mode. Here’s how I stay in peak performance mode without working nights or weekends: 1. Plan Rest Like Revenue I take four vacations a year. Not maybe. Not “if I hit quota.” I book them six months in advance. It’s not luxury — it’s strategy. When there’s a deadline before a break, I work sharper. When I return, my creativity explodes. 2. Track Sleep Like Pipeline I use WHOOP to make sure I get 7–8 hours of quality sleep. Because a rested brain closes more than a tired one ever will. 3. Protect the Calendar Every day, I block 12–1 p.m. That’s lunch with my wife, a walk, a reset. If you sprint from 8:30–12, you need that hour. Otherwise you’re running a marathon on fumes. 4. Stop at a Set Time I stop working at 5 p.m. (sometimes 6 p.m. — never 10). Why? Because if there’s no hard stop, there’s no urgency. When you know you can’t work at night, you make the day count. The result? I work 40 hours a week. I outperform people who work 80. Because my hours are intentional, not impulsive. The problem isn’t overwork — it’s under-focus. Most people are busy for 60 hours instead of productive for 6. And when you fix that, you win at work and at life.

Two minutes can save your sanity—and maybe your life. Sitting still for 6-8 hours without breaks increases mortality risk by 17% for men and 34% for women, according to the American Journal of Epidemiology. Yet most workers don't feel comfortable taking breaks, even when their company encourages it—we have to be always-on, and it's killing us. The impact of taking a micro-break: 🔹 95% positive sentiment shift after a 2-minute active movement break 🔹 Improved focus for up to 2 hours afterward 🔹 21% increase in productivity scores when breaks become routine 🔹 2.3X better stress management among regular break-takers Why we're not doing it: The problem isn't knowledge—it's permission. Chrissie Arnold and Christina Janzer at Slack ran an experiment and found that even after proving breaks work, with leadership modeling the behavior, 40% of employees still felt uncomfortable stepping away. As Melissa Painter from Breakthru: Microbreaks for the Modern Workday put it: "It's impossible to be a worker anywhere and not have the perception that the truly successful people in the world never stop." We've built a monoculture that mistakes constant motion for momentum. What actually changes behavior: 🏢 Make it structural: Companies like Zillow and Capital One's Software team set all meetings to start at :05, building in 5-minute buffers 🤝 Make it social: Breaks work better as team norms, not hoping individuals somehow "get it" 👀 Make it visible: Leaders who publicly take breaks give permission to everyone else HP's latest research shows only 20% of workers have a "very good" relationship with their work (!!), but 85% of workplace fulfillment factors are within company control. Balance—managing time and energy for high-value work—is one of the top three drivers. Standing up and moving for two minutes isn't slacking. It's common sense we've somehow decided doesn't apply at work. We can do yoga before 8 hours of meetings, or walk at the end of the day, right? That doesn't work. Are you giving your team permission to take breaks—or just playing performative productivity by packing calendars full of meetings? 👉 Learn how: https://lnkd.in/eXtc8sTe #burnout #productivity #breaks

I used to suck at taking time off and it made me a worse founder (and a worse partner, parent & friend too). I’ve just returned from a truly fantastic break. I grew up skiing and this was my first time taking my family to the snow. It was an amazing week. But what I wish I new when I was a younger founder / CEO is just how important it is to have proper breaks. Here are my hot tips on the best way to properly unplug so that you can be an even better CEO. ❓ Why ❓ Your brain needs a break. Time off gives you fresh eyes. Much like the idea of ‘let me sleep on it’ - you come back after a TRUE break realising that something that seems like a problem actually isn’t one, and something else that seems like a problem is actually very easy to solve, etc. But also - life is for living! I LOVE being a founder, I love my job at Qwilr - but that isn’t everything. I’ve been at Qwilr for 10 years. Sorry for the cliche - but you only get out what you put in. Clay Christensen and James Allworth say this excellently in the brilliant book How will you Measure your Life - but if you’re not investing time, effort and energy in your family and friends - why do you think they’ll be there to reward you later. There is ROI in everything - not just in work. 🏝 HOW TO HAVE A TRUE BREAK 🏝 Most people don't actually have real breaks because they keep working through them. This is an error! Here are my 6 tips for ensuring you have a real break. 1. Deputise someone to act in your stead For me this is my co-founder Dylan - but you need someone senior who can take all of the Qs from the team / customers / investors / etc & they need to know whether to: A) Give the answer / make the decision B) Wait until you’re back C) Call you (absolute last resort) 2. Delete Slack, Email, LI and other work apps from your phone Muscle memory is real! If you don't do this you will check them dozens of times per day! I even do this on some weekends. It really helps. 3. Set a strong out of office This is what I used last week: Thanks for your message. I am currently indoctrinating my small children into the glories of skiing. There is even, amazingly, some good snow in Australia at the moment! As such - I will not be checking my email until August 5th. If you need help with Qwilr please reach out to our terrific support team via help@qwilr.com Cheers, Mark 4. Tidy up before you go Clear out as much as you can and tell you team more than 10 days in advance > give them the ability to reach out well before you go. 5. Do a simple handover doc Our CMO Jess Tassell (currently on leave as I write this!) does this excellently. 6. Have a free day to catch up when you get back If your first day back is empty you can catchup and not be overwhelmed. This allows you to actually relax on your trip. That's it! I hope you all have fantastic breaks and come back with fresh eyes & high energy! PS: Parents need at least one holiday per year where they are not always parenting.

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐬. . . Have you noticed this? You take a weekend off. Even a 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Yet the 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐬. You 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. But you 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫. Why? Because this is not physical fatigue. It is cognitive load. It is emotional carryover. Your body may be resting. Your mind is not. Decisions replay. Expectations linger. Unfinished loops stay open. 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛. 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑷𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑠𝑦𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. So when you return to work, Within two days, The same heaviness returns. Not because rest failed. But because unloading never happened. This is a recalibration phase. And what quietly works here Is 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. 1️⃣ Write before you sleep. Transfer thoughts from mind to paper. Close open cognitive loops. 2️⃣ Stop solving everything instantly. Not every decision needs midnight processing. 3️⃣ Practice intentional silence. No phone. No stimulation. Let the nervous system settle. 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲. The deeper question is not, “When will I feel fresh again?” The better question is, “What am I carrying that prevents rest?” To your leadership, Coach Vandana Dubey 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝐸𝑛𝑟𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑠 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠: 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐵𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 – “𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦, 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒” ℎ𝑡𝑡𝑝𝑠://ℎ𝑏𝑟.𝑜𝑟𝑔 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑃𝑠𝑦𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 – “𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ” ℎ𝑡𝑡𝑝𝑠://𝑤𝑤𝑤.𝑎𝑝𝑎.𝑜𝑟𝑔 #LeadershipWellbeing #MentalClarity #SustainableLeadership

Started building a new habit around time off. Take leaves in blocks, not bits. I've always struggled with how to use my leaves effectively. One day here. Two days there. It felt productive but never restorative. Over the last few months, I've started batching them. Work consistently for quarters, then disappear for full weeks. The difference is real. Blocks build trust through predictability. Teams know when you'll be there and when you won't. Planning becomes easier for everyone. Random single days feel like gaps in availability. You're never fully present and never fully off. Blocks also give you actual recovery time. Your mind doesn't reset in two scattered days. It needs space to disconnect properly. For companies, this matters too. You can't plan around random single days. But consistent quarters of work followed by defined recovery windows create rhythm. This isn't just about taking time off. It's about being present when you're working and actually recovering when you're not. What works for you?