Take care of yourself

1. Rest.

You should ideally be getting eight hours of sleep every night. You can certainly pull continuous 12 hour days at work, but it is not sustainable. After a certain point, your body becomes tired and your mind wears down, leading to more frequent lapses in concentration and careless mistakes.

2. Periodic breaks.

Even at the office, you need to allow time for your mind to regroup and recharge. Push yourself hard for the first 50 minutes of every hour and then reward yourself with a 10 minute break.

3. Recognise the point of 'Diminishing Returns'.

The above steps do not imply that you should work yourself to the point of exhaustion. You need to protect your health and the integrity of your job. Working yourself to a frazzle constantly makes your prone to mistakes.

When you are so tired that you realize it is taking you twice or three times longer to do a job than normal, you need to call it a day. Rest a least a few hours and come back fresher, so that you can be strong at the end of the job. Learn how to power nap.

Also read the article getting more done in less time.

Taken from: News Straits Times - 10 September 2012 (article), Google (images).