Why Stepping Away From Your Desk Might Be the Most Productive Thing You Do

Like many people, I have a habit of telling myself:

“I’ll just finish this one thing…”

One more email.

One more document.

One more Teams message.

One more test.

One more tweak.

Before I know it, hours have disappeared.

I work in Microsoft Security and Identity, so my days are usually spent designing Entra ID solutions, Conditional Access policies, Privileged Identity Management deployments and helping organisations strengthen their security posture.

More recently, I’ve also found myself building tools using AI.

It started innocently enough.

“I’ll just automate this one task.”

“I’ll just build a quick tool to save myself some time.”

“I’ll just fix this little bug.”

“I’ll just test one more thing…”

If you’ve ever found yourself building something with AI, you’ll know exactly where this goes.

You solve one problem, which uncovers another opportunity.

You add one feature, which gives you an idea for another.

Then you hit that one stubborn bug that refuses to cooperate, and suddenly you’re completely invested in solving it.

Before you know it, three or four hours have disappeared.

The irony is that the very tools designed to make us more productive can sometimes make it even harder to recognise when it’s time to step away.

Of course, this isn’t unique to IT.

Whether you’re a teacher finishing tomorrow’s lesson plan, a nurse catching up on paperwork, an accountant balancing the books, a builder trying to finish one last job, or you’re running your own business, it’s incredibly easy to convince yourself that you’ll take a break later.

The problem is…

Later has a habit of never arriving.

This Weekend I Closed My Laptop

This weekend I made a conscious decision.

I didn’t open my laptop.

Instead, I headed down to the Glentress mountain bike trails in the Scottish Borders.

For a few hours there were no emails.

No notifications.

No Teams calls.

No deadlines.

Just me, the bike and the trail.

Mountain biking does something for me that very little else can.

It silences the constant stream of thoughts running through my head.

When you’re riding a technical trail, you’re completely present.

You’re looking at the next corner.

The next root.

The next rock garden.

The next jump.

There simply isn’t room to think about tomorrow’s meeting, the customer workshop next week, or why that one line of code refuses to behave.

Ironically…

That’s often when the best ideas arrive.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been wrestling with a technical problem, stepped away from the screen and returned a few hours later knowing exactly how I wanted to approach it.

The problem hadn’t changed.

I had.

We Should Protect Our Breaks

Something else I’ve been thinking about recently is lunch.

Somewhere along the way we’ve normalised treating lunch as an extension of the working day.

Someone looks at your calendar.

“It’s your only free slot…”

So a meeting appears.

I’ve been guilty of accepting them.

I’ve also been guilty of eating a sandwich with one hand while replying to Teams messages with the other.

Telling myself I was being productive.

The reality?

I wasn’t giving myself a chance to reset.

A lunch break is called a break for a reason.

Whether that’s going for a walk, heading to the gym, grabbing a coffee with a colleague or simply sitting somewhere without a screen for twenty minutes, your brain needs that opportunity to switch off.

The work will still be there when you get back.

You’re In Control

One of the hardest things I’ve had to learn over the last few years is that you’re in control of your own time.

Saying no isn’t easy.

It certainly wasn’t for me.

But it’s okay to protect your lunch break.

It’s okay to decline a meeting that could wait until the afternoon.

It’s okay to close the laptop.

It’s okay to step away.

My day job is helping organisations reduce risk, build resilience and improve security.

Yet one of the biggest risks I can create for myself is sitting in the same chair for hours because I’m determined to solve just one more problem.

Recovery isn’t being lazy.

It’s part of performing at your best.

Find Your Escape

For me, that’s mountain biking, or hiking, or walking, or even getting out with the camera

For someone else it might be running.

Walking the dog.

Fishing.

Gardening.

The gym.

Reading a book.

Playing with your children.

It doesn’t matter what it is.

What matters is finding something that lets your mind be somewhere else for a while.

Something that reminds you there is a world beyond your inbox.

A Challenge

Tomorrow…

Make your lunch break non-negotiable.

Leave your desk.

Go outside.

Move.

Read.

Sit somewhere quiet.

Do anything that isn’t staring at another screen.

Because sometimes the most productive thing you can do…

…is close the laptop and let your mind breathe.

How do you switch off when work gets noisy?

I’d love to hear what helps you reset and come back with a fresh perspective.