Will Taking a Break Kill Your Productivity?

Confessions from a recovering Type A Personality

What scares me most about stopping is I think I’ll never get going again. That I’ll lose my momentum, spark, and drive. This concern has the ability to dampen or even ruin the downtime that I do take. Thoughts of how lazy I am or that I’m wasting time or that I won’t be a success because I’m not pushing and working non-stop.

However, I know the power that stepping back and stopping have. I wrote an entire chapter called “Stepping Backward to Move Ahead” in my latest book. Even so, I still have to regulate these “gotta be doing and pushing” thoughts and feelings.

The idea that by taking a day or a week or even two off, will permanently break that part of my personality that is ambitious and that drives for what she wants has yet to be proven. Certainly, starting back up after a pause can be a little slow going. I have to prime the pump. But my drive and determination and ideas are still there. What’s even better is that I feel fresher, more ready for the next leg in my journey. I’m clearer on what I want to continue doing, on what I need to stop doing. And on those things I need to start doing to be more productive.

I’m just back from a much-needed break. I woke up this morning feeling ready to tackle the world.

It has been a whirlwind of a year and I’ve accomplished quite a bit. I moved to a new village in France. I finished writing and publishing my second book, and I marketed it. That in and of itself was a lot. But I didn’t stop there. As a result of my efforts, listeners continued to benefit from weekly my podcast interviews with inspiring guests and from the new “Courage Concepts” series I recently launched. And I created a free membership site to share supporting materials for these new episodes. I recorded and mastered the audio version of my book, Live a Bold Life, and published that too. I created an online course on how to make better decisions. And on a personal note, I sold my house, hosted two house guests three weeks apart, and am taking part in a personal development program.

PHEW!!! Just writing this list exhausts me. So I should not be surprised that during the last week and a half, I put much of my work aside and vegged out. And it felt good despite a little bit of guilt I experienced.

Now it is Monday at 4:50 a.m., and I am up and back into the writing groove. I feel refreshed, renewed, and driven, one again (or maybe still). The fear that stopping would eliminate my ambition and determination has once again been proven false. Each time I disprove this notion, it makes it easier to take time off. I hope that one day being able to take a break will be automatic and that the feelings of what I should be doing disappear completely.

People with Type A personalities can fall into the trap of not wanting to stop for many reasons. Maybe they have a fear, like me, of losing their mojo. Or perhaps their constant doing is a means to avoid something with which they don’t want to deal. Or maybe they have made an identity out of their doing and that if they stop doing and are only being, they might not know who they are?

Whatever the reasoning behind the constant doing and going, it is critical to take time out to stop and simply be. I’ve interviewed several guests on the my podcast who have gone through a burnout. Burnout forces you to stop because you become physically or emotionally ill. Your body, mind, and spirit are in crisis and you can’t go any longer.

You’ve risked your health, and your body and mind say, “no more.” So you stop. And though it’s very much needed, this kind of stopping isn’t fun. You are forced to deal with what you’ve been avoiding and have to work to gain back your health.

So instead of pushing yourself to the brink and being forced to stop, why not give yourself permission to take a break and stop? Take time out for yourself and recognize that your sense of well-being, productivity, and creativity will improve, in the long run. Do this for yourself!