How many of us stop through our daily stressors and routines to ask ourselves this question?

With returning to work full time (hello corporate office, I could have used another year of not working), transitioning my 1 year old to daycare, looking after my pets, house, etcetera, having time to stop for a second and just sit down and think feels like a luxury. But here I am going to argue that it is a necessity to find time for breaks. And here is why.

The culture of hustling and being busy does not come with mental health benefits. What I mean is that the generic messaging promoting hard work focuses on external rewards like “more money”, “career”, maybe even “having everything in order” but it never mentions mental health benefits. Because guess what, it actually ruins mental health. The busier we get, the less time we have to think, to reflect, to process our emotions and what is happening in our lives, to enjoy little things, to wonder and to, you know, live. As a result, we can close down more from others and from ourselves, focus only on distractions, or be more reactive or even aggressive than necessary.

As good as it is to be productive and multitask, there is a time and place for everything. For example, I used to approach any break I get by asking myself a question – what productive things can I do? If I am having a cup of tea while the baby is sleeping, I am not actually sitting and having my tea in peace, enjoying the flavours and comfort. I *might* load the dishwasher, steam baby bottles, clean up entire kitchen, then clean up the dinning table and then and only then sit down to have tea. If I am on my lunch break I do not just sit down in the park or cafe to eat. I run to do errands, to get supplies or groceries. Even if I do sit down, I will be maniacally checking my work email then my personal email then trying to read something to further boost productivity.

I recently noticed that I do not feel good about myself or my life after following this kind of lifestyle. In fact, the more I push myself, the more I start pushing back. I can either be very slow with work tasks or start forgetting things like locking my car. I actually had to turn around and go two subway stations back to the parking lot on my way to work recently because I had no memory of locking my car.

In the process of being effective and multitasking 24/7 I begin “glitching” like making mistakes or forgetting things. After all, I am just a human and not a robot and I should not even have the expectation of myself to function perfectly and efficiently at all times.

I think humans are not designed to work and be productive non-stop. In fact, the more time we have just to sit down and reflect or, just breathe and have the time to ask ourselves if we are doing okay, the better we will feel. So next time you get your break, take a moment to just sit and breathe, look around, notice what surrounds you, how your food and drinks taste. Feel the sunshine on your face. Take it easy and take it slow. Because that will give you the opportunity to reflect how you really feel. And you do not have to feel okay. What is important is to notice how you feel, and if you are not feeling okay that’s fine too. Only after acknowledging it you can start addressing it.