There are times in your life when there is more stress than normal. For instance upon the death of a family member or friend, one would experience a period of grieving during which concentration might not be reasonably expected. There are many other stressful events during your life and all need to be worked out in order to get your productivity back on track.

The danger of working through these times without paying attention to your emotional needs is that your work may suffer. Making mistakes, or producing work that is substandard will likely result in a decreased customer base, or may diminish your reputation for quality and customer care.

Try working shorter work cycles, and taking frequent breaks in between. This can help you maintain a higher level of concentration when you are working. You don't have to sit and do nothing while you take a break. You could concentrate on a non-work task that needs your attention allowing subtle, but important shifts in concentration.

An alternative situation may be a simple lack of concentration or a lack of motivation, which may hit us at any time. You can sit at the sewing machine or worse-at the computer with its high potential for distraction, for hours on end and yet you succeed in turning out only a few minutes worth of work. Should you press on and keep trying?

The reason for your apathy might not be apparent to you, but what should be apparent is the fact that you are achieving nothing in the way of work. You may simply be wasting time. What should you do instead?

There are many other things that might need your attention. Children to play with, house work to take care of, or dinner to cook. You might even need to go shopping. These are all things that cannot be done while you are working, and yet are things that do need to be done at some point, taking time out of your day.

By breaking from work once your problem becomes known to you, you can take care of other things that need your time and attention. This will mean that later in your day, when you should have been working on these chores you will have spare time. If you are feeling better at that time you can try again to get some work done, knowing that there is nothing else that is waiting for your attention.

There may even be the need for a longer break at times, a day or two featuring a change in routine. Though such things may seem a little like the enemy to be avoided at all costs, they can be the elixirs that bring you back to work productivity.

The only thing that is achieved by ignoring your needs and attempting to work through these more difficult times is frustration on your part, and potentially resentment for your work. So do yourself a favor, and take a break when you need it.