When Do You Take a Break?

[DoTheWork]

I'm in the final stretch collecting data for my current business idea. This project has required me to do over 18,000 Google searches by hand to collect information (data could not be accurately scraped with a bot). This work is terribly mind-dumbing, but it's got me wondering when I should give myself a break. Whether it's when to stop working for the day or when to give myself a day off, I've had trouble deciding when it's appropriate. I feel that I've become less efficient recently because I've been pushing so hard to get this data collection phase completed; maybe I'm not taking enough breaks.

So I'd love to know... When do you call it quits for the day? How often do you give yourself a day off? How do you determine this?

Personally, I've started working from around 6am to anywhere between 2pm and 6pm each day, with maybe 1-3 hours for breaks in between that time. I typically have 2 days per week in which I only work a partial day.

Not asking this question for advice about my situation, just curious to hear how others handle it.

 

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[Choate]

From the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. In-between, consider:

- 1 hour for yourself in the mornings with an established routine (a la The Miracle Morning)
- 1 hour for the gym or other exercise
- 2-5 hours spent at a local coffee shop a few days per week doing your work so that you are around people

So if you ask me, the question is: how much time do you need per day or per week to maintain balance or even progress in the other areas of life while you work on this?

Break it all down and ask yourself how many more hours do you have left on this initial part of the project. How much faster will 8 hour days get you there versus 14 hour days? Will it be worth it to save 'x' amount of time?

And lastly, if it's still in idea phase, make sure you're not action faking.

 

[peterb0yd]

I struggle with this too. My schedule has gotten jam-packed as I've recently taken up a full-time job to pay off some debts as I learn a new technical skill for my business (before and after work).

I second everything @Dark Water said. I get up early to go to the gym or run each morning during the week and give myself 30-60 mins to read a good book each night. Although, being honest, that still doesn't quite feel like enough of a re-charge so I'll add this.

I find that socializing with good friends, family or women (as a hetero male) is the best re-charge in the world when you feel over-worked. It's like a cleansing of the soul.

I schedule time for this each weekend for large chunks of the day. It's the only thing I really "love" to do so I make time for it. Hope that helps.

 

[SEBASTlAN]

I'm in the final stretch collecting data for my current business idea. This project has required me to do over 18,000 Google searches by hand to collect information (data could not be accurately scraped with a bot). This work is terribly mind-dumbing, but it's got me wondering when I should give myself a break. Whether it's when to stop working for the day or when to give myself a day off, I've had trouble deciding when it's appropriate. I feel that I've become less efficient recently because I've been pushing so hard to get this data collection phase completed; maybe I'm not taking enough breaks.

So I'd love to know... When do you call it quits for the day? How often do you give yourself a day off? How do you determine this?

I'm sure some people might say that if you've accomplished your goal for the day then that's enough, but what if your goal only ends up taking 3 hours instead of the 7 hours you expected? Others may say that they work until they burnout, but would it be better to give yourself a break before you hit that point?

Personally, I've started working from around 6am to anywhere between 2pm and 6pm each day, with maybe 1-3 hours for breaks in between that time. I typically have 2 days per week in which I only work a partial day.

Depends when you planned for it to be done by.

If you have to, give yourself an arbitrary deadline. That should clear things up pretty quick.

 

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[DoTheWork]

Depends when you planned for it to be done by.

If you have to, give yourself an arbitrary deadline. That should clear things up pretty quick.

I wasn't really asking these questions for advice for myself. More just to hear about how people give themselves breaks.

I had a quantifiable goal/deadline which I wanted to complete by Jan 13th, 2020. I just completed it today. But to me, this doesn't mean I should stop working until the 13th, but maybe that's how others might do it.

 

[minivanman]

In my original business, I took my first day off about 4 1/2 years after I started it. I never even had a holiday off. There was a church that needed cleaned and instead of making an employee work on Christmas, I did it myself. It did pay off though.... now I can take any day off I want and as many days in a row off as I want. That business was also a 24/7 business. I always slept with the receiver on my chest, ready for the phone to ring with a problem so I never really had 1 second of rest for 4 1/2 years. So glad I suffered through it.