When the Body Disagrees

I was working at a 9-to-5 when I first started working from home. Which meant I had a set schedule to keep, working at least three hours before and after a lunch break. At least three hours of powering through several tasks with no more than five minutes of break time, which was me not touching the mouse (if you use Teams, you understand).

But it took me three years to notice my fatigue once the third hour began. All of that motivation had crashed into a wall. I spent a while just staring at the screen. I had a sit-to-stand table, which helped until it didn’t. Even standing did not wake me up.

Honestly, my body felt like it logged off. Even with music in my ears, everything was quiet. I was no longer clocked in and had no idea how to make my eyes read the incoming messages. My hand clicked away as I tried to finish the project, but no progress was made. Looking back, I see I needed more breaks — and that five minutes wasn’t enough at all.

So, my third lesson learned while working from home is: Breaks are not optional — take them, because it’s okay to.

Breaks Exist… Right?

What could I do to get myself back on the clock? While short breaks were allowed, they weren’t truly breaks. Back then, it was me getting up for a snack, still thinking about the last question I’d received in a chat message. Going to the bathroom, trying to remember where I left off in revising a proposal. Pacing my room, ranting aloud to myself about a last-minute scope add.

And how do any of those count as a break?

If my work interfered with my stepping away for a few minutes, it was still work. But I needed an actual break. One where I was away from my desk, physically and mentally, not bothered by a call that didn’t go well, nor by a request to take something off a coworker’s plate. I needed rest to reset.

A Real Reset

Here’s the thing: I could’ve either pretended to be working hard in the third hour or gotten up and taken time to reset. Not five minutes of walking around. Not just adjusting from sitting to standing. My body has told me that those methods do not work, because they’re not enough for me.

Which means I listened to my body. And I continue to listen to my body when she clearly wants me to stop. If I feel irritated, that’s a sign. Ranting about every little thing someone did is a sign; it’s just work, and everyone’s human.

The first time I took a real break, it felt like the weight of the world fell off my shoulders — really! When I stopped to look around, I realized that life can fit in between work. And for me, it should.

From experimenting with time blocks, I’ve learned that I cannot work a single block for four hours straight — my limit is two and a half hours. My real breaks involve me getting up to walk around, spending at least 15 minutes watching or reading something interesting, or even spending half an hour sleeping or exercising.

Without time to reset, my quality of work would suffer. That will always be a great reason to break.

Rest is Beneficial

There is no reward for pushing through when I’m fatigued. If my body is signaling a stopping point, I stop. There’s no such thing as consistent, infinite focus — even when my motivation is lying to me about it. As long as I trust my limits, I have productive workdays, getting a lot of great work done. I deserve rest just as much as my teammates and clients deserve quality work, and when I rest, it’s a win-win.

With this lesson, I understand that many people don’t have this privilege. Still, I really hope this reflection gives you permission to listen to your body.

Have a cozy workday, dear.