6 ms·
I changed my primary work goal 2 years ago. Now I try to minimize stress as the most important goal of the work day. I redefined my job; it now is to solve prob
by swframe2 9y ago
I changed my primary work goal 2 years ago.
Now I try to minimize stress as the most important goal of the work day.
I redefined my job; it now is to solve problems in the lowest stressful way.
In other words, my employer is not paying me to kill myself.
I walk 10 mins every 1 to 2 hours and use that time to review.
I try to find ways to solve problems in ways that are more fun, easier, and effective.
So to me a 10 min break is a work requirement.
Solving a stressful problem and not reducing the stress first is wrong.
It isn't just something I do for my health, it is the way people are supposed to work because it produces much better solutions.
After 50 mins working on something very difficult my mind gets so mucked up.
Often I discover a simpler solution during the break and end up getting my work done much faster.
Sometimes stress can peak and when that happens I just take a nap until it dissipates. Usually just 30 mins but there are times when it can take an hour or more. Again, I view the nap as doing work because often I wake up with a simpler solution that also has much less stress. If I can't find one, then I escalate the issue. Again, it isn't my job to absorb stress to the point where it degrades my effectiveness.
Please note, I don't work on production system being used by 100s of millions of users. I've done it; it was fun; it is not possible to reduce stress in that work so it is not worth the effort. I now make 2x as much and have almost no stress.
- ourmandave 9y agoI walk 10 mins every 1 to 2 hours and use that time to review. I try to find ways to solve problems in ways that are more fun, easier, and effective. So to me a 10 min break is a work requirement. Ah, the old Walk-n-Talk meeting style. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WalkAndTalk http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WalkAndTalk If I could get Alan Sorkin's endorsement I'd sell it as a work out routine and make millions.
- CodeCube 9y agoonly tangentially related ... but this is a funny take on the ol' walk and talk :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2_Re7wmd2o&ab_channel=RocketJump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2_Re7wmd2o&ab_channel=Rocke...
- dwaltrip 9y agoFor breaks, I find letting my thoughts drift to be important. In fact, I try to avoid thinking about my work doing many of my walks/breaks (sometimes I can't help it though). Doing a bit of low-key mindfulness and slowing my breathing has been very helpful as well.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago> Sometimes stress can peak and when that happens I just take a nap until it dissipates. Usually just 30 mins but there are times when it can take an hour or more. Again, I view the nap as doing work because often I wake up with a simpler solution that also has much less stress. Here I thought I was the only one. Thanks for sharing. I find work to be pretty stress-inducing for some obscure psychological reasons; taking an occasional nap to reboot the stress meter is a solution my body arrived at.
- Cryptid 9y ago>After 50 mins working on something very difficult my mind gets so mucked up. I am suddenly reminded of my college classes that were 50 mins on the dot, with 10 mins in between as travel time to get to the next class.