Woman To Woman Newsletter Article by: Terry Lyles, Ph.D.

Have you ever felt like a year's vacation traveling the world would be just what the doctor ordered? Sounds great, but this plan has various problems. The problem list might start with boredom, loneliness, regret, confusion, wishing for another day at the office, or chasing the kids around the house. What could possibly be wrong with this kind of thinking? The problem really begins with how often we take vacations! Elite Performance training used by pro athletes and Special Forces persons, suggest a vacation or work / rest cycle frequently! What in the world could I possibly mean by this paradigm? We are all wired for success, but programmed for potential failure. Our wiring comes from God who is the life-designer, but our programming comes from the influence of family, friends, media, and just plain old "stinking thinking."

Society at large has worked hard to program all of us to work long and hard, taking few, if any breaks during the day. Taking breaks in corporate America is usually interpreted as weakness and low commitment. At first glance, this might seem more profitable, but the data supporting this linear work / rest cycle will produce more errors, confusion, and moodiness. Why is this true? Because most of the Country is functioning within the program design that is desperately seeking personal significance, peer approval, and emotional security through work holism. This can be true for the CEO, or the stay home mom chasing children, keeping the house, and navigating daily chaos.

We are wired to utilize work / rest cycles in ninety-minute intervals to maximize daily performance. Taking a quick two to five minute recovery break every ninety minutes will place physiology and routines into work balance that will increase how we stay focused, feel accomplished, align destiny, and master energy levels all throughout the day. These quick recovery breaks, or mini vacations can be as simple as taking a short walk, eating a small meal or snack, drinking some water, calling a friend, laughing, praying, meditating, or any other method that interrupts a linear based stress cycle. Frequent recovery breaks could be one of the most impacting strategies in learning how to master your health, happiness and productivity by taking control of what is most important to you, your family, and/or your career.

Click Here To Print This Page