My client's wife brought me a plate of cookies and it changed my whole week

I was working late at a client's house in Denver, finishing up a website redesign. His wife came into the home office around 8 PM, put a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies on the desk, and said, 'You look like you need a break more than you need to fix that footer.' I ate two right there, and we just talked about her garden for ten minutes. That small act of kindness made me realize I'd been grinding for 14 days straight without a real pause. How do you handle it when you're too deep in a project to see you need to stop?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_murphy7d ago

I set a timer to force myself to take a walk every two hours, even if it's just around the block. It feels silly, but getting outside for five minutes stops me from staring at the same screen all day. What's the longest you've gone without a real break?

max7166d ago

My record is three days before I started talking to my desk lamp.

carr.luna6d ago

Honestly, I've found the best breaks are the ones you don't plan, like that cookie moment. Mila_murphy's timer trick is smart, but sometimes you just need someone else to see you're fried and hand you a snack. It forces a real stop when your own rules won't.