I took a great course in Stanford’s Continuing Studies program (Excellence Is No Accident taught by Glenn Brassington) a couple of years ago that made me aware of the need to take breaks from working every hour or so – among many other things.
Heather Green blogs about her New Year’s resolution to take many more walks around the block saying “rather than simply defaulting to trolling and then reading and reading and reading until I actually have taken in too many facts without giving my brain time to think about them, maybe I need to take a walk.” Amen. The simple act of pushing back from the desk, getting outside and going for a brief walk is amazingly refreshing – and important!