All of this being at home, along with all this working at home has been so very interesting and challenging at the same time. I am not complaining because I don’t think complaining is beneficial; but, I want to share something I felt the Lord reinforcing with me this last week. I worked at home everyday before this season, so not a lot changed. And the fact remains that my favorite part of working at home was, and is, going out. I am a people person. This season has challenged me to take breaks from work. Yes, I have to work to rest. Anyone else? Please tell me I am not alone…
As part of my daily routine, I outline my day with a to-do list. The most important things are at the top with Jesus being number one every day. I joked on stories recently that there is never a time when you go to the grocery with out having spent time with Jesus, taken a shower, and oiled up. Not in my book. I need Jesus every single day. The time I spend with Him is valuable, encouraging, strengthening, it is profitable for training and instruction and reproof. I can go to the store without my makeup; but, not without Jesus. I do not go out in my pajamas either. Just saying. All joking aside, there is tremendous benefit in a shower and getting dressed everyday. Studies show that your mindset improves and productivity increases by doing those two actions.
But during this Safer-At-Home time, I realized that my focus driven to-do list use to be interrupted quite often by friends wanting to meet for lunch or take a walk or a sit and sip hot tea and visit or…you get the idea. There were lovely breaks sprinkled along the work day. There was the going out that made the coming in easier.
I thought back to our first year of homeschooling and how we’d start the morning together and I’d give instructions to both daughters and one would do exactly as I’d communicated. Then there was the one who after completing the first task would come to the kitchen to give me a hug and see what I was doing. Such sweet memories. It wasn’t so sweet at the time because I thought she needed to move on with her school work and get it done. I came to realize that with her learning style, and the way God made her, the breaks to the kitchen to interact with me were needed.
And here I am the mama learning my own lesson about the necessity of taking a break while at home. Taking a break for me is profitable. I do find satisfaction in completing a to-do list and even though mandates recommended distancing, breaks from work and routine are good for us. I have found during this time when people weren’t around as much, that I still needed a break from the work. So, how have I accomplished that? Well, I have three projects in my work that I set aside an hour for every day. Though part of me would like to check them off 1, 2, 3 in a quick and succinct fashion, if I find that my mind is wandering, or that focus seems to wane, I stop and take a break to walk in the sunshine, to check on flowers that may be blooming, to look up and see if there are clouds in the sky, or to text a friend to just tell them that I am thinking about them or praying for them.
Taking a break to do something that is not on a to-do list, is a good thing. I find that when I return to the work at hand, I am more productive and more creative in completing my tasks. What about you? Do you take breaks from your work to recharge or reset your mind? Do you find that a change in the environment helps you to feel refreshed? I would love to hear how you take a break from your work. And if you are not taking regular breaks, I would like to encourage you to start the habit.
I’m thankful to be re-learning a lesson taught to me by one of my children. Children are good teachers. Yes and amen.