Stressed? Tired? Burned Out? Take a Pause
What are the early warning signs that it's time for a pause?
By Rodger Dean Duncan
A few years ago I shifted gears on my very busy life. I shut down my consulting practice and put a hold on my writing projects. My wife and I closed up the family home, said goodbye to our children and grandchildren, and headed off to another part of the country.
This was not to be a kick-back-and-relax vacation. It was an uninterrupted twelve months of volunteer missionary service for our church. We sorely missed our family and friends. But it was the best year of our lives. Hard work, yes. But it was different work. In addition to the satisfaction of laboring for a cause that’s important to us, it was a change.
It was a pause.
In a world where busyness is often valued more than results, many people are reluctant to take a break, even a short one. After all, who wants to come across as a slacker?
But mastering the art of knowing when to stop, even if only briefly, is a critical ingredient of a life well-lived.
That’s the premise of Rachael O’Meara’s fine book Pause: Harnessing the Life-Changing Power of Giving Yourself a Break.
Are you too busy driving to stop and get gas? This woman’s advice is for you.
Rodger Dean Duncan: In today’s fast-paced, competition-driven world, why do so many people seem to have an aversion to taking a time out?
Rachael O’Meara: Welcome to the Pause Paradox: we value productivity and profits as people and companies, yet we need to ensure we’re hitting pause to create sustainable, long-term success at home and at work.
Pausing, or intentionally shifting your behavior, appears counter intuitive. We often resist pausing to avoid falling behind or looking like a slacker. Instead, consider pausing to enhance creativity or needed downtime, even if it’s for a few minutes.
Pro-pause research shows that a wandering mind may facilitate creative problem-solving. Harvard researcher and psychologist Shelley Carson warns us, “A distraction may provide the break you need to disengage from a fixation on the ineffective solution.”
Duncan: Some people are beginning to realize how their lives are consumed by technology. You recommend taking an occasional “digital vacation.” What’s the science behind that recommendation?
O’Meara: Taking a digital device pause (DDPs) is one way to detach from technology. As anyone who has vowed to put his or her phone away yet refuses to do so, there is an addictive quality about it all. The reason? When we check our devices, the neuro-transmitter dopamine gets released which helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers, according to Psychology Today.
Naturally, as we receive pleasure-inducing digital chimes and comments, we feel good as the physiological response to dopamine in our brain’s pleasure center “lights up.” This is why it’s so difficult to unglue your eyeballs without intentional effort.
Shift your habits by creating rules and boundaries around your screens via daily digital vacations, or pauses. Some ways to try this: limit social media exposure to a set block of time, have a device-free day or time, or put your device away at meals or an hour or two before bedtime. Experiment a bit and decide what works for you.
Duncan: What are the early warning signs that it’s time for a pause?
