Rebranding time-wasting
The next time you are at work, relax and do nothing. No, really. In her new book, The Art of Rest, Claudia Hammond says that resting — rather than being busy — makes you more productive. This is welcome advice.
Many people believe that if you aren’t working all the time, you aren’t working hard enough. Hammond thinks this is nonsense. “Maybe it’s true that you waste some time at work chatting and you could concentrate harder all day and leave work a little earlier,” she writes in her book, “but perhaps it’s having some fun with colleagues and checking Instagram every now and then that makes your job enjoyable, or bearable.”
When people say that they don’t have enough time to rest at work, Hammond has two replies: you may be overestimating the amount of time you actually work, and perhaps you should accept that your to-do list will never get done. So, give up the guilt, push your work aside and chill. You may be surprised by how much your work improves as a result.