Fewer breaks are taken in the home office. And when you do, you often feel guilty about it. Tips on how to differentiate yourself from it.
You can now tell whether you have forgotten how to take breaks from work, for example when the bright sun and blue sky invite you to take a walk. Do you just get up from your laptop and leave? Or do you have a guilty conscience? Do you allow yourself a little break? Or are you afraid that your boss might wait for you, tapping your fingers?
Office chats also provide information on how to deal with the subject of breaks. Anyone who “just goes to the supermarket for a short time and is right back”, “quickly turns the block” or “fixes something small to eat” has a tense relationship. It is constantly pointed out that one is actually working properly.
“Taking breaks in the home office is like an art,” says Patrizia Tonin from the Austrian Association for Supervision and Coaching (ÖVS). Three tips on how we can reappropriate them.
Consciously prescribe time out
“In the home office you decide for yourself when to work and when to take breaks. Since the work area is often not separated from the private area, many find it difficult to draw boundaries here, ”says the expert. She advises moving away from his workplace during breaks.
“Even taking down the garbage can create a short break, a short walk or a short meditation.” The only important thing is: the further you get from your desk, the better.
Unplanned short breaks also accumulate in the office when you spontaneously accompany colleagues to the coffee machine or chat in the corridor. All of these short time-outs do not apply to home offices. “You have to learn to ask yourself to do it.”
Create structures
“Cell phone alarm clocks and break apps are good reminders to take breaks,” says Tonin. Another tip: Do not schedule your appointments, which are now often held online, too closely. “Otherwise you are permanently online and have to work through to-do's all the time and forget about meals and regular drinks.” It also helps to “mark” your working hours and free time with rituals.
Tonin: “Getting dressed in the morning, whether you go to the office and move again in the evening, creates a separation of work from the end of the day.”
build up trust
Tonin's lack of social control explains why many have a bad conscience during the break. “In the office everyone can see who is taking a break and is usually not disturbed. Nobody notices this in the home office, as the phone or computer are the only ways to get in touch.
For fear that the others might think that we are making ourselves comfortable on the couch instead of working, we then answer the phone despite the break. ”The expert advises agreeing on fixed times with the employer and communicating clearly when you can be reached is and when not.
The relationship with the boss also plays an important role – if it is not based on mutual trust, it is more difficult to take the necessary time off. “But you also have to reflect on your own way of working,” says Tonin. “Is it really expected of you to always do everything in one day, to react immediately to every email? Or are you putting the greatest pressure on yourself? “
