Taking WFH breaks: The Met—100 curators talk about 100 works, 2 minutes at a time.

Before I joined T. Rowe Price as a writer eight years ago, I’d worked as a freelance or contract writer for nearly two decades. Working from a home office still seems natural to me—but, I know that’s not the case for many folks. Over the next few days, I’ll share a few of the WFH challenges that I’ve learned from. Here’s the first—I’m still struggling with this one:

TAKE BREAKS

• It’s vitally important to take your mind off work—completely off of work—for a few minutes every hour or so. Focus on something that gives you pleasure, makes you happy, or just plain curious.
• It’s been documented by many studies over many years that the majority of employees who are working from home tend to overcompensate for not being physically present in the office. Overperforance, when not necessary, can make you more tired than normal and, more importantly, lead to early burnout.
• Set an alarm if you have to, but take a break on a regular schedule. And, on at least every other break, get some exercise. Otherwise, you may look up and find that you’ve worked three, four, five hours at a time without moving around much. That’s not wise for you physically, or mentally, and doesn’t keep you on point for your employer.

Remember that breaks don’t have to last very long to be extremely effective. If you enjoy any form of art or like learning about history here’s a super-quick break that I like: Spend two minutes with an art museum curator sharing a work of art he or she finds transformative through the Met’s video series, 82nd & Fifth.

82nd & Fifth is the Met’s address in New York City.
It is also the intersection of art and ideas.

A few years ago, the Met invited 100 curators from across the Museum to talk about 100 works of art that changed the way they see the world, and eleven Museum photographers to interpret their vision: one work, one curator, two minutes at a time. I’ll warn you, though that, for me, these two-minute videos are a lot like potato chips. I can’t enjoy just one. Enjoy and feel free to share.

82nd & Fifth was created as a year-long series of 100 episodes. You’ll find the Met’s series here and there is an app available in 12 languages.

82nd & Fifth

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Executive Director, Thomas P. Campbell
Series Producer, Teresa Lai
Series Director, Christopher Noey
Producer, Howard Silver