In recent culture, especially in startups, people tend to work non-stop. Unfortunately this leads to:

• Exhaustion

• Lack of productivity

• Burn-out

• Sheer unhappiness

After 15 years of working in tech, I do things differently.

Here's how I take "strategic" breaks

Break #1: Take a short walk.

A study done at Stanford in 2014 shows that 6-minutes of walking outdoor increases your creativity by more than 60%.

Even indoor walking increases it by 40%, so if the weather is bad you can do some walking around the house.

Break #2: Look at nature or cute animal photos.

Studies have shown that just looking at pictures of nature on National Geographic, for example, relaxes us.

Also, a study from the Hiroshima University says that looking at photos of cute animals increases our productivity.

Break #3: Meditate.

Meditation helps your productivity by relaxing the stress responses with respect to deep work and difficult problems.

You can start with 1 minute of breathing meditation daily before going into more complicated stuff.

Break #4: Talk to your friends or colleagues.

Another efficient way of taking breaks is through “social recovery”, by hanging out with people you care about.

Go out for lunch with a colleague or have a 5-minute conversation between work sessions. And don't talk about work.

Break #5: Take a short nap.

A nap can increase our productivity, our creativity, can prevent heart diseases and make us feel energized.

The most efficient nap should take between 20 and 30 minutes.

Don't do this if you're a crane operator. (You already have an uplifting job).

TL;DR - 5 strategic breaks you can take to boost your productivity

• Break #1: Take a short walk.

• Break #2: Look at nature or cute animal photos.

• Break #3: Meditate.

• Break #4: Talk to your friends or colleagues.

• Break #5: Take a short nap.