GIVE ME A BREAK
A Bench Jeweler’s Guide to Taking Breaks ~Part 2
By Brad Simon
WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER
A story is told about two lumberjacks clearing an area of land. The first lumberjack would chop wood for a while then take a break. Then he would chop for a little while longer and then take a break again. All the while the second lumberjack was busy chopping wood. He worked hard all day long from dawn to dusk, barely taking time to eat lunch. However, at the end of the day the first lumberjack had chopped far more wood than the second lumberjack. Discouraged by the day’s activities, the second lumberjack complained to the first saying, “I worked hard all day long while you piddled around taking breaks all day, yet you chopped more wood than I did. I don’t understand how this could be.” The first lumberjack replied, “While I was taking a break, I was sharpening my axe!” Not only was that lumberjack sharpening his axe, he was also ‘sharpening’ his mind and body, allowing him to work at maximum productivity all day long. As a result he accomplished more during his day then the second lumberjack who, although he had worked hard, never stopped to refresh himself, or to take care of his tools.
You have to be smart in the breaks you take. If you have been setting a lot of melee in a pave’ setting, you don’t want to read a book, magazine, or catalog while taking a break. That will do nothing to relieve the eye fatigue. However, if you have been doing a lot of mind numbing sizing and chain repairs. Then reading BENCH Magazine or a book can be a refreshing break and you will gain knowledge in the process – hardly a waste of time!
If you have been doing a lot of stone setting, you have been straining the muscles in your hands and fingers, straining your eyes, and concentrating your mind on your work. For a break you might want to get up and sweep the floor. In doing this you relax the fingers while exercising the arms, shoulders, upper torso, and legs – a good change of pace from sitting in your chair all day. You can relax your eyes and let your mind wander. In addition, you are sweeping up the gold dust on the floor which you can send to the refiner for cash in your pocket rather than having it walk out the door on the bottom of your shoes. It is hardly a waste of time and it provides a refreshing break from your stone setting work.
There are many ways to take a productive break from your work which allows you to change pace and be refreshed. Maintaining tools while on a break, as the lumberjack did, is an excellent way to take a ‘productive’ break. Sharpening gravers, or drill bits, cleaning and oiling your pliers, changing the solution in the ultrasonic, or cleaning your files, are just a few ways to accomplish this. Putting tools away and organizing the shop are also good tasks to do on a break, 5 minutes a day can make a big difference in the shop over the course of a week. However, sometimes you just need to go get a cup of coffee and get away from it all. Just be certain that the time spent ‘away from it all’ is only few minutes and not a half hour or more!
Brad Simon is a JA Certified Master Bench Jeweler, and has over 28 years experience on the bench. He writes and publishes E-BENCH, BENCH Magazine, and Bench Television. He conducts seminars and workshops through Simon Sez Seminars on shop management issues and bench techniques and has written several books on Jewelry Shop Management and Bench Techniques. You can reach him at Brad@BWSimon.com or visit him on the web at www.BWSimon.com.