How Downtime Improves Your Productivity
It may seem impossible, but downtime improves your productivity. Although it can be hard to balance your home life with your business, it turns out that downtime is more important to your business than once thought. It seems contradictory because if you’re not working or talking to potential clients, you’re not making money. So, how could taking time away from your work make you more productive?
Your Brain Needs Downtime
Your brain spends the majority of the day taking in new information and figuring out what to do with it. Have you ever felt like your brain was full? You’re not alone. Downtime allows your brain time to process and also to determine how the information it received should be handled. Studies have shown when you take downtime, your brain benefits. You’re able to remember and learn things easier.
Think about downtime like it is part of your job. You’re giving your brain the time that it needs to consider new information. You’re likely to get more “sudden epiphanies” as you spend time doing things around the house or with your family or friends.
Downtime Improves Your Engagement
For most of us, if we work too much, we get tired. We may keep going, but it’s a real possibility that we don’t do as good of a job as we would had we just taken some time to rest. When we work longer hours, we’re just not as engaged as we could or should be.
Downtime improves your engagement. When you take time to rest, you are giving yourself time to recharge. You feel more refreshed and you’re able to focus better.
Tips to Make Your Downtime Better
As a small business owner, you may struggle to take a break. After all, there’s so much to be done. Yet, since downtime can improve your productivity and engagement, it’s important that you force yourself to do it. Here are some simple tips you can use to make your downtime better.
- Wake up earlier, but not for work. Get up 30 minutes before anyone else in your home. Use that time for yourself. Read a book. Take a walk. Just sit down with a cup of coffee or juice. Just take the time to be.
- No more eating lunch at your desk. Use that time, even if it just 15 minutes, to unplug and step away. Remember, you’re giving your brain a much needed break to work through all of the information that its been exposed to during the day.
- Block time in your schedule to do something just for you. Maybe you go to yoga two or three times per week. Maybe you just go for a walk. Maybe, just maybe, you set aside time to just take a nap. No one needs to know about what you’re doing during this time nor do they need to approve of it.
- Remind yourself that downtime ultimately improves your productivity and engagement. You’re doing your business a favor.
How Clients ARM Can Help with Your Downtime
It can be hard and even scary for small business owners to take time for themselves. Clients ARM is here to help. We provide remote-services that can make it easier for you to take downtime that will make you a better business owner. With more than 30 years of experience in customer service, accounts receivable management, collections, and client care, we can help you with services selected just for the needs of your business. Your tasks are left in expert hands and you’re able to rest and recharge. Currently, Clients ARM is scheduling free consultations. To book yours, contact us now.
