Why Is It Important To Take A Break, As Told By A Working Student
When everything seems a little too heavy to handle, we tend to punish ourselves even more by not taking a break. We think that working even harder than we should make everything better. Our goal unconsciously turned to finishing tasks, not learning from them. We think working with no brakes is efficient—until we realize that it is not.
Tired but still working—is this effective?
Many of us grew up with the knowledge that working harder despite hardships and tiredness is a strength. We have romanticized the idea of not resting even though it is already stressful and tiring. Growing up, we were always told that we cannot be tired and that resting won’t do us any good. We foolishly believed that we are weak if we choose to take a break instead of working. It has always been engraved on our minds that if we work hard all the time, we will be rewarded more. We were not aware of what being tired and stressed may bring us—and that should end now.
Yes, it’s not a good thing to overwork yourself. It is never a good thing to not grant ourselves even a little time to breathe. Let’s not deprive ourselves of that short snooze to take a few more minutes of sleep, or that one hour of scrolling on social media. Why? Because working continuously, without a break, won’t help. If you think that’s productive, think again. We think that by constant working, we can finish our tasks quickly. Not until we realize that WE can also be finished even quicker.
Burnout can finish you out
While we think that it is healthy to continue functioning despite running out of will, motivation, and energy to do so, we often forget that there is such thing as burnout. Now how does overworking cause burnout? More than just the feeling or tiredness and stress, burnout occurs when you still want to work but your mind and body are not letting you anymore. What happens then? Of course, you’re not able to work anymore. No break, no further works as well.
Believe me, as a working student, I always get this. Whenever there’s an idle time at work, or during long commute hours going from and to work, I always feel like I should be doing school work instead. The result? Immense guilt whenever I can’t write a single word or finish a simple task. And it’s not good. I blame myself for not being able to do my pending tasks during my free time at work. Even worse, I write for school while performing my tasks for work. I juggle between them, doing them simultaneously at the same time. Due to this, it is impossible not to compromise one, either my quality of work, my school work, or my physical health—and the choice is mine.
Your physical and mental health are both important, hence taking a break is necessary
You deserve a quick break, regardless if it is a small and quick one or if it’s a beach or out-of-town getaway, it doesn’t matter. Any action that you do that will get your attention away from work, is considered a break, may it be scrolling on TikTok or buying your favorite ice cream. Trust me, your body and mind will thank you for these tiny rewards that you will give yourself. These will get your mind away from pressure, stress, and tiredness. You should let happiness, relaxation, and fun dominate your whole system. After this, your body will get enough energy and strength to work on your tasks again! Sounds like a win-win situation, right?
Working hard is important, but also taking care of yourself. Our top priority should always be our mental and physical health. After all, even a car needs oil to keep moving, right? Go get the oil from that pizza, I meant to sleep, to refill your tanks and get moving!
