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Take breaks.

This is tricky in some occupations, where managers don't understand the value of breaks and expect their charges to be on-task all the time. But study after study has shown our minds need down time. If you have to take your breaks in a bathroom stall, so be it.

I try to take a ten-minute break every couple of hours, and I make sure it's a

real

break -- not just a leap from one stresser to another. Breaks should involve as much distance as possible from the main task. That means

not thinking about it

.

I recommend changing location, not just switching from one desktop window to another. Go to the lounge, go outside, etc. If you're a knowledge worker, see if you can "get physical." You don't have to sweat. You can go for a walk or, if your office is equipped, play a round of ping pong.

Pro tip: before your break, leave part of the project dangling. Don't complete steps, one, two and three, leaving step four for later. Complete steps one, two, and

half

of step three, stopping mid-sentence, mid line-of-code, or whatever. It's much easier to get back into the groove, after a break, if you can jump into what you were doing before than if you have to start from scratch, with a whole new step. (This is a good end-of-the-day tip, too. Leave something dangling for tomorrow.)

It's vital to take a break when you hit a wall or reach mental fatigue. When you're clueless or exhausted, it's counterproductive to push, push, push. Just step away, gossip about the Oscars, and then step back.

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Have a Three-Annoyances Rule

: the third time some little irritant bothers me, I need to do what I can to solve it. For instance, the third time I can't find a working dry-erase marker, I leave my desk, go to Staples, and buy a pack of them. The third time I have to look up a keyboard shortcut, I write it on a sticky and place it on my monitor. Solving these little problems can smooth out the work in general and also feel like accomplishments. In any case, if I'm trying to figure out a big, complex idea, the last thing I want to worry about is dry markers.

Notice I said, "I buy a pack" of dry-erase markers. Obviously, you have to manage your budget and make smart decisions. I'm lucky enough to be able to afford a three-dollar pack of markers once every couple of months. Maybe "I shouldn't have to," but it's quicker for me to just buy them than put in a request. I can claim reimbursement if I want. My goal is to just solve the problem as quickly and efficiently as possible.

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Ask lots of question.

Use your coworkers as knowledge banks. Independence is way overrated.

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Explain what you're doing to someone else.

I can't tell if I really understand something until I explain it to someone. Often, I think I understand something, but in the course of explaining it, I realize I don't.

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Draw pictures, preferably on huge sheets of paper, white boards or blackboards.

For reasons I don't understand, there's been an aversion to this most places I work. People want to talk everything out without any visual aids (except maybe slides with text on them) or document in forms that involve multiple pages. The problem with pages is that you have to flip through them. You can't see the big picture all at once. You can't see ho...