{"id":18659,"date":"2026-07-27T19:55:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T18:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/?p=18659"},"modified":"2026-07-27T19:55:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T18:55:19","slug":"im-having-a-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/news\/im-having-a-break\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m having a break\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re anything like me, having a break is\u2026hard. The succession of\u00a0problem-solving\u00a0tasks is what I like about my\u00a0day-to-day work,\u00a0but I\u2019d be lying if I didn\u2019t occasionally come back from a break with five more things to sort and think: \u201cwhat was I working on gain?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get interrupted in a task, take\u00a020 seconds to note down where you are and what your next step is going to be\u201d. That\u2019s something a colleague told me recently and though I was slightly sceptical, I thought to myself, \u201cI can spare\u00a020 seconds\u201d. Little did I realise how helpful it would prove to be.\u00a0In\u00a0the recent months, I\u2019ve found taking a step back makes me more focused\u00a0on what needs to be achieved and often able to find a better solution to the problem.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to share what has made me work more efficiently in the past months\u00a0and hopefully\u00a0this could motivate you to try one of those things \u2013 and keep me motivated!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Make it obvious\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love a to-do list, but I\u2019m also someone that wants to do everything, sometimes my tendency of \u201cI could probably just sort that out too\u201d gets\u00a0the list\u00a0so long that it becomes overwhelming. The key is writing down a few achievable goals and non-negotiables; things that\u00a0need to be done today. Then, think a little broader, and delegate things that need to be done next week if possible so you can have a head start after the weekend. Doing so makes my day\u2019s objective obvious and is easier to hold myself accountable in ticking all of it off.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Make it attractive\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since I do so many to-do list, I find adding some novelty helps\u00a0keeping\u00a0it fresh. A new notebook, or a new\u00a0pen could be the solution, or what works for me is to have a new template, or new tags to get organised. For the\u00a0doing of the\u00a0tasks themselves, having a comfortable set up, and putting some motivational music\u00a0definitely keeps\u00a0me focused.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Make it easy\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I find it more manageable when I analyse a task and divide it in a series of small steps, the preparation, the doing and the\u00a0and the conclusion. I enjoy cooking and the process is\u00a0similar to\u00a0preparing a meal. The ingredients are the documents, or research about how to do something. Then, as with a nice broth, I\u2019m constantly testing and coming back to it to make sure that the objective is still aligned. One of the hardest\u00a0steps\u00a0for me is when I\u00a0misjudged\u00a0the recipe and won\u2019t be able to get finish on time for the guests. In the kitchen that\u2019s not a problem, but for office tasks with multiple stakeholders, it\u2019s important to\u00a0communicate about the potential for a delay and remembering that good news can always wait whereas bad news should be said there and then.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Make it\u00a0satisfying\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is\u00a0key to motivation. If a task is not satisfying it is harder for me to start it. Recently we have\u00a0reflected as a team about our purpose. The \u2018why\u2019 do we do this job and not just \u2018what\u2019 we deliver, or how we do it. I\u2019m lucky to work in a field that I\u00a0aspired to work in,\u00a0and this makes it all the most satisfying. When I need to start, there is\u00a0always a customer\u00a0that\u00a0I want to help\u00a0or a new solution that could\u00a0be\u00a0useful for lots of people and that brings me the boost I need to continue with the task.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I sometimes think that\u00a0all of this\u00a0is a workout. I see it like climbing a mountain. Step by step, you will get to the top, but don\u2019t forget to have a break and look behind you at the amazing view.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Written by: Armelle Huitric<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Reference –\u00a0The 4 titles:\u00a0Make it obvious,\u00a0Make\u00a0it attractive,\u00a0Make\u00a0it easy and\u00a0Make\u00a0it satisfying come from \u201cAtomic Habits\u201d by James Clear. The details of those paragraphs is a personal view on those, but if you like\u00a0to deep dive in\u00a0each of them the book details them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re anything like me, having a break is\u2026hard. The succession of\u00a0problem-solving\u00a0tasks is what I like about my\u00a0day-to-day work,\u00a0but I\u2019d be lying if I didn\u2019t occasionally come back from a break with five more things to sort and think: \u201cwhat was I working on gain?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhen you get interrupted in a task, take\u00a020 seconds to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":18662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","footnotes":""},"categories":[74,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consulting","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18663,"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18659\/revisions\/18663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/18662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}