It's not only how you do your job that creates efficiencies, it's also how you don't do your job.
Olivia Mellan, a Washington-based psychotherapist and money coach (and longtime Investment Advisor columnist) says it's important to take visual breaks from your computer screen every 45 minutes or so.
"Looking out the window or getting up and walking around is extremely important for relaxation, creativity, and bringing out the best in you. Most of us don't do this," she says.
In fact, she says those of us who react like Pavlov's dogs every time we hear an e-mail chime are doing ourselves a huge disservice.
"That means you're in hyper vigilant mode: that's the stress mode. You're letting information in all the time whether you want to or not, so it's a habitual way of keeping plugged in. It keeps you in panic mode as opposed to slowing down and figuring out what your priorities are today, what's most important," she says.
