You Deserve a Break Today

Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-wearing-white-long-sleeve-polo-and-sweater-vest-6282599/

If you’re old enough to have watched television in the 1970’s and early 1980’s you may remember the commercial jingle for McDonald’s that is the title of this newsletter.

Yes, McDonald’s musically promoted the idea that you should periodically stop and take a break to take care of yourself. Of course, their idea of taking care of yourself was eating their “food,” which if eaten on a regular basis would drive you to an early grave from heart disease and diabetes, but it’s the thought that counts!

While McDonald’s may not have been so great with the details of how best to take a break, they were ahead of their time when it comes to the basic idea that taking breaks is good for you.

This is especially true if your work ( or leisure activities) involves prolonged sitting and/or looking at some type of screen display, be it a computer, tablet, or smart phone.

The body is designed for movement, and even the best posture or position can become problematic if you stay in it for too long.

The simplest and most effective way to minimize the negative effects on the body from sitting and screen use is to take periodic breaks to change position and move around. These breaks don’t need to be very long.

Frequency is usually more important than duration. A thirty second to one minute break to stretch and move done a few times every hour is usually more effective than doing one or two longer breaks per day.

Awareness is key to making breaks work for you. It’s far too easy to get sucked in to whatever you’re working on and suddenly realize that you haven’t moved from your seat for a few (or more) hours. I suggest using a timer. If you have a relatively recent vintage cell phone, you probably already have a timer app readily avilable.

I suggest setting your timer to remind you to move at 15 to 20 minute intervals, or whatever your work will let you get away with. Then, take your breaks when your timer goes off and try to resist the temptation to ignore it and think you’ll “just catch the next one.” Chances are if you start skipping breaks, you’ll continue to do so until you reach a point where you’re no longer taking them at all.

In most case, taking periodic breaks will not only make you feel better, but they’ll also make you more productive – don’t skip them!

If you’re wondering what to do on your breaks, my advice is to do whatever movement activity you like (or at least are willing to tolerate) in the time available. If you have exercises that your health care provider prescribed, or perhaps just a general fitness routine, perhaps do some of those activities. The main thing is to move around, so you could go for a short walk (or walk in-place), do some gentle back-bends, stretch your neck side to side, etc..

Try to resist the urge to look at your phone – you’ll defeat the purpose of the break if you just stand or sit around staring down at your phone screen. Not to mention the fact that looking at things like social media may only serve to increase your stress!

The bottom line is that taking frequent breaks, even short ones, will help keep you healthy, both physically and mentally so do yourself a favor and take breaks when you can. You deserve it!

Until next time,

George Best, D.C.

P.S. If you’re looking for more information about a particular health problem or about the services I offer, there’s a number of resources available on my website:

GbestDC.com