Improve Your Daily Performance

People coming through our door are folks who are looking to live life to the fullest. They are striving for a  healthy lifestyle and want to perform well, without pain, in all of their activities. For us, this is a true joy to surround ourselves with humans who approach life like this. We have one life to live, best to live it well. 


New year. New goals...maybe some of the same goals? Regardless, the beginning of something seems to press our wake up button and say, ‘OK, let’s do this.’ 

I spend a lot of time in my vehicle. Business podcasts and TED talks make their way to the speakers several times per week. However, most of the time I am daydreaming in between patient home visits thinking about ways to improve how we operate, what we offer, how to to best serve our clients at Burlington Physical Therapy...the list goes on. With all of these extra hours in the day behind the wheel, why the heck am I not listening to books? Did you know that your local library has an app for you to listen to audiobooks for FREE? How am I just utilizing this in 2021?!

A week ago, I finished my first book: “When: The Scientific Approach to Perfect Timing,” by David  H. Pink. Author’s name sound familiar? He wrote “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.” Turns out, this book is loaded with information to help our clients. People coming through the door at BPT want to squeeze the most out of life. Pain is the driving force behind seeking PT, it’s the ‘what,’ but the ‘why’ is performance. Pain, mobility, etc is limiting performance and that is frustrating to sideline what makes your heart beat. 

Back to the book, it is all about performance; our daily performance. Recognizing that we all have a peak, troth, and rebound/restore during our day. If you want to learn more about this, check out this book. You can also look up “Chronotypes” to learn what type you are and how to maximize your peak times to perform throughout your day. Not all are created equal and in a society that functions under a rigid “9am to 5pm” you might not be capitalizing on your “peak” hours. 

I definitely have that head down and grind approach to tasks. This book will highlight why that is NOT the most effective approach. The people who are the best performers know how to take breaks. Yep. Breaks. What a concept. Again, the highest performers are those who are the best at taking meaningful breaks. For a society that prides working hard as a badge of honor, we are missing some key concepts in how to do that effectively.

Below are REAL applications that you can use to improve your daily performance, to maximize your daily to-dos, without spending more time at your desk.  


Restorative vs Vigilance Breaks 

Restorative. These breaks are designed to reset the mind in order to perform well throughout your day. Research has proven the necessity of restorative breaks. In general, work for 45-90min, then take a restorative break. Examples:

  • Micro: 1min minis. Example - avert eyes from your computer screen every 20min for 60 secs.

  • Moving: 5min walk. Office yoga. Heck, do some push ups. Spend a few minutes MOVING.

  • Nature: Arguably the most effective. Get outside. Breathe in the fresh air. Don’t underestimate the power of nature, even spending time INSIDE around plants, away from your work station, will help. 

  • Social: Call a friend for a few minutes to say hi. When social distancing allows, coffee with a friend. Write a thank you note. Gratitude goes a long way.

  • Mental Shift: Meditate. Diaphragmatic breathing. Watch dog videos. Listen to a podcast. 

The KEY to all of the restorative breaks: avoid social media, step away from your work desk/zone, DON’T talk about work. And definitely, definitely, avoid eating lunch at your desk and continuing to work. Unless of course you are interested in decreasing your performance in the afternoon and wading in your “troth” zone. 

There are certain job situations that are not going to warrant restorative breaks. A surgeon isn’t going to pause an operation to do some laps in the OR and drop down to do a few push ups to stay sharp. This is where Vigilance Breaks play their part in preventing mistakes and keeping our mental acuity on point. Consider these scheduled timeouts. For example, two hours before a project deadline, pause. Take a step back, breathe. What progress has been made and what are your next steps? What’s missing? Assign those missing links and get back at it. 

As someone who operates on a work, work, work mode for much of the day, I am learning. I enjoy working hard, but if I can work smarter by adding breaks AND be more productive, I’m open to applying these concepts. Hopefully, you are too!

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