If You’re Fed Up with Your Job, Try Working More Pauses into Your Day

by?Rachael O'Meara

More than half of Americans feel “overworked or overwhelmed at least some of the time” and 70% say “they often dream of having a different job,” according to a?recent study?by the Families and Work Institute. That’s a lot of unhappy people at work, and many of them may choose to resign. But my research shows that quitting can?be premature; what you might?need to do instead is pause and recalibrate.

最近，一項由家庭和工作研究所做的研究顯示，超過半數(shù)美國人“至少有時候感到勞累過度或不堪重負(fù)”，70%的人表示，“他們經(jīng)常夢想擁有一份不同的工作。”大量職場人士不快樂，其中許多人可能會選擇辭職。但我的研究表明，辭職為時過早；你可能需要暫停一下，重新校準(zhǔn)。

Chances are that if you were to jump into a new role or organization, whatever is causing you to leave may follow you. Taking a pause — which I define as any intentional shift in behavior — allows you to lift your head up, assess your situation objectively, and change your attitude, thoughts, or emotions. It doesn’t have to be a major break in your routine; it?might be that after you get home from?for work, you intend to spend 20 minutes of quality time with a partner or loved one. Or you intend to show up fully present every morning at the office by taking six deep breaths before you walk in. Even small pauses can help.

如果你轉(zhuǎn)換工作崗位或跳到一家新公司，那些導(dǎo)致你離開的因素仍有可能如影隨形。停頓一下——我把它定義為行為上的有意轉(zhuǎn)變——可以讓你抬起頭，客觀評估當(dāng)前的處境，改變你的態(tài)度、想法或情緒。這未必意味著打破日常生活規(guī)律，可以是在下班回家后，有意識地與伴侶或愛人共度20分鐘美好時光。或者每天早晨先做6次深呼吸，再精神抖擻地走進辦公室。即使是小停頓，也可以有大幫助。

Here are some signs that you may need to work more pauses into your life:

如果出現(xiàn)下列跡象，表明你可能需要在生活中停一停腳步了：

• You used to love your job and now you loathe it.?Perhaps you used to thrive on the pressure of your role but it no longer seems worth it. Or maybe you’re in a slump. Burnout is a signal to take note of what isn’t working and make a change.

• 以前你很愛自己的工作，現(xiàn)在討厭它。也許你曾經(jīng)在角色壓力下快速成長，但似乎不再值得為之付出?；蛘吣阍谧呦缕侣罚眢w倦怠是一個信號，提醒你大腦不靈了，需要做出改變。

• Someone informs you things aren’t working out.?It may be a hint in the hallway or a direct hit — you missed your quota or the new strategy you developed backfired.

• 有人告訴你事情進展得不順利。這可能是前進路上的一種暗示，或是直接明示——你沒有完成工作，或者你設(shè)想的新策略事與愿違。

• A concerned family member or colleague intervenes to separate you from work or technology.?It’s easy to get hooked on what you do, but when it starts to affect your well-being and relationships, those who care about you notice.

• 一位憂心忡忡的家庭成員或同事介入進來，迫使你遠離工作或技術(shù)。你很容易沉浸于正在進行的業(yè)務(wù)中，但它開始影響你的幸福和家庭關(guān)系，妨礙到那些你所關(guān)心的人。

• A major life event or challenge occurs.?Change is inevitable, and can be a natural inflection point to assess your options and align with what matters to you.

• 發(fā)生重大的生活事件或挑戰(zhàn)。改變是不可避免的，它可以是一個自然的轉(zhuǎn)折點，讓你對自己的選擇加以評估，并認(rèn)清哪些事情對你至關(guān)重要。

• A new opportunity arises.?An irresistible job offer or an invite for a passion project or trip comes along. You may need to take a pause to find out how serious you are about setting course on a new path, especially if it is high risk.

• 出現(xiàn)新的機會。一份不可抗拒的工作機會，或受邀參與一個激動人心的項目，或一起旅行。你可能需要停下來，在踏上新征途前，想清楚每件事的嚴(yán)重性，特別是可能面臨高風(fēng)險的時候。

Once you’ve determined that you need to pause, the next question is how to do it. A common misconception is that you take a break so that you can think something through.In some cases it is helpful to reflect while pausing and ask yourself questions you haven’t had time to ask yourself in your busy life. What could you do differently? How can you shift or plan to make your existing role more aligned with how you want to work and live? Are there new boundaries to create, or responsibilities to own or shift? But the purpose is actually to step away from your everyday activities and?not?focus on what’s dominating your thoughts. Instead, it can be best to just relish the present moment, not reflect on any specific issues, and?let answers emerge.

一旦你確定需要稍作停頓，接下來的問題是如何做。常見的誤解是你要休息一下，以便理清事情的來龍去脈。在某些情況下，這樣做有助于自省，捫心自問一些在繁忙生活中沒有時間思考的問題。你能做些什么不同的事情？如何轉(zhuǎn)變或計劃，才能使現(xiàn)有的角色與理想中的工作和生活方式更加協(xié)調(diào)一致？是否要劃定新的邊界，或承擔(dān)/轉(zhuǎn)移責(zé)任？但真正的目的是遠離日?；顒?，不要被腦海中揮之不去的想法所左右。相反，最好是享受當(dāng)下，不要思考任何具體問題，讓答案自動浮現(xiàn)。

There are three steps for planning a pause. First, write down some quick thoughts on your situation – what’s happening, what isn’t working, what the challenges are, and any actions you want to take.

暫停計劃可以有3個步驟。首先，針對現(xiàn)狀，迅速記下一些想法——發(fā)生了什么，問題在哪里，面臨什么挑戰(zhàn)，以及你想采取的行動。

Next, set an intention. What do you want to get out of this pause and how do you want to feel at the end of it??One study published in?Psychological Science?showed that by distancing yourself from a challenge and taking the perspective of an observer, you can enhance your reasoning, leading to insights and new solutions that hadn’t occurred to you before.

下一步，設(shè)定意圖。你想從這次暫停過程中得到什么收獲，暫停結(jié)束時希望有什么感覺？一項發(fā)表在《心理科學(xué)》雜志上的研究表明，遠距離審視挑戰(zhàn)，采取觀察者的角度，可以提高你的推理能力，產(chǎn)生之前所沒有的新見解和解決方案。

The third step is to plan how much time you’ll pause for and what you’ll do. You may not know?how?you want to spend your time so it’s also OK to let your pause to unfold more organically. Daily “mini” pauses, sometimes done several times throughout the day, are a great way to start if things aren’t dire at work. You can also pause by getting up from your desk every 90 minutes, heading outside at lunch, taking a walk, or setting a period of time when you don’t check your digital devices. If you are really short on time, you might spend five minutes at your desk doing a simple breathing exercise: follow your breath, counting each slow inhale and exhale until you get to ten breaths.

第三步是計劃一下你準(zhǔn)備暫停多長時間，要做什么。你可能不清楚想怎樣度過這段時間，所以，順其自然也是很好的。每天都有“迷你”暫停時間，有時候一天幾次，如果不影響工作的話，以這種方式開始就非常不錯。你也可以每隔90分鐘從桌邊站起身，午餐后出去散散步，或者設(shè)定一段時間內(nèi)不看數(shù)字設(shè)備。如果真的時間很緊張，你可以花5分鐘在桌子上做一個簡單的呼吸練習(xí)：跟隨呼吸，緩慢地吸氣和呼氣，連續(xù)做10次。

A pause can also be a day-long activity. Visit a place that brings peace of mind and joy to your day. Wherever you go, notice colors, textures, and take in your surroundings. You might consider starting a “pausebook” or journal to document what you experience.

暫停也可以是一天的活動。去一個能帶給心靈安寧和歡樂的地方。無論你走到哪里，注意顏色、紋理，并留心周圍環(huán)境。你可以考慮開始寫一本“暫停圖書”或日志來記錄你的經(jīng)歷。

Other pauses might include doing something outside of your comfort zone like taking a class, coaching your child’s sports team, or going a surprise weekend getaway or day trip with a loved one.

其他暫?？赡馨ㄗ鲆恍┮郧安怀Ｗ龅氖虑?，例如參加課程，給孩子的運動隊做教練，或者外出來一次驚喜周末，與心愛的人一日游。

If you have more time, consider taking a week-long pause. Most of us understand the benefits of taking a vacation and yet many of us don’t use the time, afraid of work piling up while we’re gone. According to a 2015 survey by the?Creative Staffing Group, 72% of executives wouldn’t take additional vacation days even if they were unlimited, however about four in 10 (39%) think output would actually increase if employees took more time off. The benefits of returning refreshed after pausing are worth the time away and often lead to greater creativity and less stress. Increased distraction and dopamine levels can actually help lead to new insights, according to?neuroscience research.

如果你有更多時間，不妨考慮暫停一周的工作。我們大多數(shù)人都明白休假的好處，但其中一些人沒有利用這段時間，擔(dān)心離開后工作成堆。根據(jù)創(chuàng)意人員組織（Creative Staffing Group）2015年一項調(diào)查，72%的高管人員即使不受限制也不考慮額外休假，但大約四成(39%)的人認(rèn)為，實際上，如果員工花更多的時間休假，產(chǎn)出會增加。暫停后精力恢復(fù)所帶來的好處不僅能挽回時間上的損失，往往還會激發(fā)更大的創(chuàng)造力，并減少壓力。神經(jīng)科學(xué)研究表明，分散注意力和多巴胺水平的上升實際上有助于產(chǎn)生新的見解。

If you’re considering leaving your job, I invite you to pause first and explore how things could be different without moving on. If you are feeling burned out or overwhelmed, taking an extended pause over a few weeks is another option that might help you gain perspective outside your day-to-day routine. You may be pleasantly surprised and realize all you needed was an intentional shift to realign and experience things differently.

如果你正在考慮離開現(xiàn)有工作崗位，我請你先暫停片刻，探討一下如果不向前邁出這一步，事情能否有所改觀。如果你感到疲憊不堪或不知所措，多休息幾周是另一種選擇，有助于你在按部就班的日常生活之外看得更遠。你可能會驚喜地意識到自己所需要的不過是有意識地重新調(diào)整，并增加一些不同的經(jīng)歷。

瑞秋·奧米拉是《停下來：給自己放個假，人生從此不同》（Pause: Harnessing the Life-Changing Power of Giving Yourself a Break）一書的作者。她也是谷歌公司的銷售主管，以及一位幫助他人激發(fā)潛能的變革型領(lǐng)導(dǎo)教練。