For a long period of time over the past summer (pretty much the whole summer), I was tucked away in a basement writing portions of what will become my dissertation. Writing a paper of any length can provide difficulties, and dissertations are no different. Difficulties abound. Spending day after day working on something relatively complex (and not necessarily straight forward, as my writing style for some reason requires) can be a taxing experience mentally. There needed to be some way that I could relax my mind (not necessarily my body) in order to keep productive, high quality work emerging through my fingertips (and onto the keyboard and into the computer). The daily break provided this much needed rest.
One of the things I find particularly difficult is scheduling myself. I have no issues scheduling others or putting things on my calendar related to obligations others might have, but turning this scheduling mentality on myself has always been difficult. As such, I’ve often had difficulty protecting my own time from interruptions and distractions (both self-imposed and otherwise). Scheduling (even in a seemingly loose way) has proved very beneficial to my daily productive output. This “loose” scheduling has taken the form of a daily break (in addition to reasonable breaks for eating: something I never miss). When the energy is low (particularly around mid-afternoon), I’ve taken to a lengthy break. Perhaps I pace about, play with my son, help my wife, or simply read or watch something unrelated to my work. Maybe we even take a short trip somewhere or run an errand. This single thing has helped me more than I can say. I schedule a daily break. Oddly enough, the implication of scheduling a daily break means that I’m very work-focused around said break, because I know it is coming. Who knew?