Sometimes the best thing you can do is to take a break
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However motivated you might be, however driven you might be, however disciplined you might be, there will be a point, or multiple ones at that, in your life, when you need to take a break.
For some, it might be hard to accept that they could find themselves at such a point: needing to take a break. Among those people there is me.
It took way too long to accept the fact that I might need a break from a lot of things, so I could take a breath of fresh air, could have time to process a lot of stuff that has happened in the last couple of months, and it was a harsh truth I had to bear with.
When you start your journey, or a part of it, from a place of motivation, drive, hopefulness, ease of mind, it’s easy to disconsider that you’re only human and you might need to take a break once in a while. It’ll allow for time for you to process information, make decisions in regards to the journey you’re on, other aspects of your life apart from career or work, and many more.
I do believe that there are a lot of people who find it hard to think that for others it is hard to even consider taking a break, how stupid does difficulty in taking a break sound?
Well, I can tell you that, since I was belonging to the ‘others’ group, the amount of drive and passion can render you thinking that such ‘puny’ needs such as taking breaks (Can be seen as hitting a roadblock from that perspective, or at least from mine) are unneeded and unnecessary.
The harsh truth, however, is that we all need them, and they’re beneficial for our growth and our equilibrium in life.
Taking a break will not only allow you to recollect and allow your brain to process so much information that it lacked the time to, but it will also allow you to ”heal”, to discover some other things rather than those from your primary areas of interest (work), and it will especially allow room for you to diversify yourself in terms of interests/knowledge areas, to open yourself to new experiences, and could even allow for rediscovering yourself throughout all areas of your life.
This is the first time I’ve taken a break from programming (work) in around 3 years, and I can say that it’s been so far a nice breath of fresh air (I can tell that from my 3rd day); being able to process a lot of things out, to not think about work for a while, to think about what I want to do next, and to be able to have time to set some other goals for myself in the next period.
Furthermore, as opposed to what I have been thinking before considering taking a break, having some time off is not going to halt your progress, quite the opposite, really, it’s going to help you grow even further and even much faster, as the unprocessed information that your brain hasn’t had time to process will be the one to halt it, not the other way around.
The brain will not have that much time to process information fully when all you do is work but will do when you are taking a break from work.
I will also write an article after going back to work so I can confirm the magnitude of the benefits that a break has provided me with, and maybe even discuss what I have done in this period as well.
Final Word
Taking a break is not always an easy decision to make, especially coming from a position of wellness, from where you believe that nothing can and is going to stop you, but, unfortunately, it is more often than not the right decision to make considering your mental health.
There will be a point in your journey, or more at that, when a break is all you need in order to keep going stronger and faster.
Remember, you are not in a race with anyone, so don’t try making it one; try going at a pace you feel comfortable with and do challenge yourself often, but don’t go into extremes; do what feels right.
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