How many times do you actually switch your phone off while having dinner with your friends or family? Or spend a day doing absolutely nothing? In today’s hyperconnected world, the answer is probably very, very rarely. Yesware, an email tracking and analytics company in the United States found that people only sent 40% less emails on a holiday Monday as compared to a regular Monday, showing just how hardwired we are to be ‘on’ all the time.
Why is it important to take time off?
Taking a break will literally keep you healthier than if you don’t, according to a Finnish study that found a correlation between vacation days and heart health (if that won’t convince your boss about the four-day work week, we don’t know what will!). So now that you’re convinced to switch off this weekend or take an impromptu mid-week break, what should you do with all that email-less free time?
Self-Love
Take out some time to do what makes you happiest. This could mean going for a swim or run, meditating, watching movies all day or playing with your kids.
Do Something Different
Take a walking tour of Bombay’s food and architecture with Sugar & SPACE, come for a sail with us, sign up for an online course or join us for our weekly footy match at Cooperage every Thursday at 7pm. As a coworking space in Mumbai, we pride ourselves on the diverse interests of our members and partners. Once, a member got us even competing on a slack line (fixed between 2 beams in the Gallery) during The Breakfast Club a few month ago!
Evaluate
When was the last time you were completely honest about what your life looked like? Whether professional or personal, we all have goals or ideas of what we want our life to look like. How far is your reality from your ideal and what are steps you can take to move in that direction? We hosted a few workshops recently with Afsheen Dattoobhai of Whistle, our in-house Queen of goal setting. She showed us that this actually can be a really fun exercise!
Spend Quality Time
Visit your grandparents, get on the phone with mom (she’s been waiting for you to call back!), cook up a semi-fancy dinner with your best friend and chat for hours over wine, or just cuddle up with your partner. We all get so caught up with your lives that, sometimes, we forget about enjoying those most important to us!
Do Nada
You get the point! Allow yourself to do absolutely nothing and don’t feel guilty about this. Sleep in, watch your favourite trashy reality television (we’re bingeing on Love is Blind), order those cookies you’ve been craving and just veg out. The only thing we ask is that you clean up your act before work the next morning!
Why we are fans of taking a day off now and then?
Yes, Ministry of New might seem to be all about productivity and getting stuff done but we know, being entrepreneurs ourselves, that especially creatives and freelancers cannot be confined to a desk all week. We ourselves also love to spend a day roaming the local galleries for inspiration, meet friends in our favourite coffee shop / wine bar in Kala Ghoda, or work from home sometimes when we just don't feel like getting in that traffic again! Thats why we offer you a lot of flexibility for example with our Time Traveller membership. Coworking with us always gives you the option to work at your own pace, on your own time.