I’ve never been into working for long, unbroken stretches of time. Whenever possible, I prefer to do a bit of work and then take a short break, alternating the two until my work is done. I find that to be much easier, less draining, and more effective when it comes to getting things accomplished. Sometimes I’m comfortable working for longer periods, such as when I have a deadline to meet, I’m feeling very inspired, or I love what I’m doing. Overall, though, I like to break large tasks down into smaller ones and spread them out.
This also gives my subconscious time to think through whatever I’m doing and come up with new or better ways to get it done. For example, I often get some of my best ideas for writing when I’m engaged in a fun, playful activity instead of sitting at the computer struggling to come up with something. Whenever I’ve hit a sticking point on a project, I always find a break helps me relax and overcome that obstacle when I return to work. In contrast, trying to force a solution more often than not only serves to make me more frustrated and less capable of being creative.
I think everyone would benefit from taking more regular breaks from work and having a little time to play. This could be facilitated by getting rid of “busy work”, which I consider to be tasks that serve no productive purpose and are only assigned to give people something to do. Along similar lines, eliminating the 20% of things that cause 80% of your problems and focusing on the 20% of things that provide 80% of your results (this is known as the Pareto principle, which Tim Ferriss talks about in The 4-Hour Workweek) can also free up time to play and take it easy. This would give coworkers more time to get to know each other and even become friends rather than just being workplace associates, which would make their time at work more enjoyable. I’d like to see some major changes that would allow more people have time for breaks at school, on the job, and anywhere else they work. This way, they can relax more, enjoy each other’s company, have time to pursue their interests, and avoid stress and all sorts of other negative things that come from too much work and not enough play.