Take a Break
Breaks are important. At Bearded, we’re often tackling several big, complicated problems at a time. And it can be hard to keep your head straight, and clear your cognitive buffer before moving on to a new task.
What you need, in other words, is a mental sorbet, and taking 5 minutes for yourself won’t ever blow a deadline. In fact, it’ll probably make you more productive.
It’s good to have a list of 5-10 minute break activities to help clear out the cobwebs. Here’s the current Bearded list of palette-cleansers:
Golden Eye: That’s right. The 1997 N64 game. You can do up 4 player matches that end after 5 minutes of game play. It’s amazing how much pretending to shoot your co-workers for 5 minutes re-focuses the mind.
Zombieville USA 2: Co-op zombie-splattering mayhem on the iPhone / iPad. The fast-paced cartoony action really takes one’s mind off of work-a-day concerns.
Rainy Mood: A few minutes laying on the couch with Rainy Mood is great when you’re at your wits’ end. Just close your eyes, and relax, my friend. Everything’s going to be OK.
Get The Led Out: Sometimes cranking the stereo and air-instrumenting to an awesome song while high-five-ing your co-workers Top Gun-style does wonders. I’m just saying.
Meme of the Week: Increase designer/developer understanding via meme education, and laugh really hard. Wins all around.
Write a Quick Blog Post: Natch.
-MG
