Have a Break, Don’t have a KitKat

• Interval breaks during a movie are not just to decide on what popcorn flavour to have or what to drink, it’s also a chance to discuss the movie and see if you are enjoying it as much as others, the anticipation of the suspense ahead, etc. The OTT platforms have killed those moments which are now dependent on us pressing the pause button to take the much needed break.
• The drinks break during a cricket match, apart from quenching thirst for the players, also help them look at their planned strategy, see how it has worked out (or not worked) and make necessary changes.
• The lunch breaks at the office, while allowing enough time to fill our tummies, also give time for to just take a walk, get some fresh air (only for non metro cities, unfortunately :-() and catch up on stuff which was kept pending due to busy schedule at work.

P.S. Intent of the twist in the title was to make it appealing. I have nothing against Kit-Kat or any other chocolates, for that matter!

Many times during day long sessions, the audience is told to take a ‘bio break’. While the biology need is justified, the break is also good chance to take a perspective of the event so far – Is this what I wanted? Am I making the best use of my time? Would I be learning significantly more from here, or have I had enough?. 

While during a session or an event of any sort, we tend to get immersed into the session and many times, out of peer pressure, not because we are genuinely impressed by the content being discussed, we stick around as if there is no exit door. It’s thus important to configure a ‘break’ to review the real need for you to be there and if it is being met.

• If you are giving a speech or a presentation, take a pause somewhere in between, to gauge the audience and see if they are ‘with you’.
• If you are giving a test or an exam, regardless of how well you are doing, stop in between to assess where you are and how much more u need to do.
• If you are on a project, schedule enough review sessions to take stock of the progress and work pending.
• If you making building something, have the time in between to see if you really creating what was planned or its going out of tune.

Breaks or sabbaticals during your professional career are very important and not talked about much. Many of the large US companies mandate a month long break after 5 years and even a 6 month sabbatical after 10 years of work in the company. Many finance firms mandate a complete break with no emails even for 14 days towards the end of the calendar year for employees. Their email is inaccessible from the server, even if you are too used to logging in despite all the respite given to you!!.

Break during school career can be difficult to adjust to, but there are umpteen instances of people taking a break between school and career and have really flourished after the same. The perception of being ‘left behind’ as compared to the classmates is a huge bother, but its all short term. In the long run, you end up making another legion of friends with your new set of classmates and the genuine ones from previous batch will still remain your friends.

Breaks for the housewife are equally critical in a normal day. Apart from the monthly kitty parties and bi-weekly shopping routines, they of course relish the ‘no cooking Wednesday’ when they are given a complete day off from their daily chores.

In the daily humdrum of life, we are all running all the time, from one goal to another, from one destination to another, from one wish to another; not realising on what we are missing out in the rush, not seeing what are just passing by, not assessing if we really want to get to where we are going – or we are just being ‘pushed’ in that direction. It’s important to have these breaks, the ‘thinking time’ and ‘white spaces’ in our calendar, which have far more meaning than any of those meetings. So think hard to see if you are actually having those breaks also, or just having the kit-kat !

pic credit – themostefficient.com