Take it easy and you'll be more efficient. Productivity doesn't mean endless hours at work. Those who want better work results must not work at work

From morning to night at work, always on the phone, work the number one priority, and yet you don't get anything done. Do you recognize yourself? Then it's time to rethink your approach to work and start taking time for yourself instead of spending more and more time on it. And you'll find that you'll be more productive then than if you were working 24 hours a day.

In fact, slowing down, working less and setting aside enough time for breaks and rest will ultimately help you be more successful and productive. And not only that. It'll also make you feel human again. And surprisingly, the best time to relax is at work.

It's not possible to work effectively for 8 hours straight. Or even more. For optimal performance, the brain - and the body - need plenty of space to rest. And they need it regularly. So it's not enough to come home in the early evening and collapse from exhaustion, but you need to take breaks even while you're at work. Lunch breaks are good, but the moments of leisure should be even more frequent. "Rest is an essential part of a good and smart approach to work," explains Soojung-Kim Pant, author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Do Less.

Rest is productive

For many people, there's a paradox in knowing that if they work shorter hours, they'll get the job done better than if they devoted all their time to it. "Productivity is not just about having results, it's about having the best possible results. But it's impossible to perform at your best if you're not well rested," aptly notes human resources expert LaShawn Davis. "People who emphasize rest," Davis adds, "approach work more energized and ready to tackle whatever tasks and challenges they encounter."

At the same time, rest doesn't mean inactivity. The brain is always on. And even when we're not actively working consciously, it's still going through processes and still absorbing and analyzing information, thinking, evaluating, and problem solving. And it is also often more creative and fresh because it is not overwhelmed by the stress of having to do the task now. As soon as you switch off and start to relax, the mind relaxes and often the creativity and ideas we so badly need suddenly come.

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The false impression of a linear function

Moreover, if you work too long, your productivity will not only decrease, but you may end up doing more harm than good. Most of us, because of our school approach, tend to automatically think that work performance works on the principle of a linear function. The longer, the greater the results. Two hours of work will produce twice as many results as one hour. Four hours twice as much as two hours. Eight than four, etc. etc.

But that's really only how it works for simple activities. Most work has a point after a certain time where each successive increase in profit (amount of work done) costs more resources than the previous one. It takes three minutes to take one shopping trip to the third floor. It might take three minutes to carry a fifth, too, but you'll go slower with the sixth, even slower with the seventh, and by the fifteenth it might be so slow that it would be quicker to rest and breathe for five minutes than to scramble up the stairs at a snail's pace. - That's an example of physical labor, but it applies to mental performance as well.

And it can be worse. Because if you cross even this point of "diminishing returns", you get to the stage where the results are negative. In the case with purchasing, it could be that you fall and hurt yourself. At work, it could be mistakes made through inattention that cost more resources (time, energy, or even money) to correct than your work gains.

Preventing this is simple. You just need to rest early.

How to rest at work

Fitting enough restful moments into the workday, and fitting them in without regret, may be as difficult for some as the work itself. The basic advice is to get rid of the impression that "I'm just going to do this" and then take a break (like going to lunch). Because "just this one more thing" can easily become an hour of work, and the lunch break is in drag, so you just grab a quick bite at the computer and a proper rest doesn't happen.

If you're having trouble walking away from work that isn't done, try scheduling classes like school. 45 minutes work, 10 minutes break. Or adjust the interval to suit your needs. And then feel free to set a timer on your phone to alert you when it's time to take a break.

But sometimes it only takes small moments for the brain to breathe and produce a new idea or creative solution in a relaxed state. And that little moment could be a trip to the kitchen for a bite to eat or a drink. Better than going back to the computer with a glass of water, though, is to drink it slowly and calmly, perhaps looking out the window, taking a few quiet breaths and making it three minutes of refreshment. Plus, the next break will come when your body wants to get rid of that water again in an hour.

Rest should be a non-negotiable part of your work time. Demands that you work like ferrets and never stop are toxic and you should be able to adequately define yourself against them. Because no job, no task, and no pay is worth ruining your health.