Taking breaks during the workday is often seen as a worker being lazy or unproductive, which can make people feel guilty for taking them, Macsinga said. The goal of her report was to demonstrate that short breaks are valuable for both workers and organizations. “It seemed pretty inconceivable to me to have a busy week and wait for the weekend just to feel better, or to have a rough day at the office and count the hours until night,” she said. Studies included in the analysis looked at how breaks of 10 minutes or less affected either students in a laboratory setting or workers in a workplace setting and were from the United States, the Netherlands, China, Austria, Germany, Australia, Brazil and Japan. Mini-breaks appeared to only positively affect workers performing certain types of tasks. According to the report, study participants engaged in routine or creative work benefited from short breaks. Routine tasks are activities done with a high level of automation that do not require a person to use the full capacity of their brain. This can cause the mind to wander to other or unrelated tasks, increasing the chances of a mistake, the analysis noted. A break can reduce the risk of mistakes and refocus the worker’s attention on the task at hand, according to the report. According to the analysis, creative tasks require a person to search their brain for information relevant to what they are doing while suppressing ideas that are off-topic. Short breaks allow the worker to focus on an activity that is different from the one they are working on, which can increase flexibility and improve creative performance, the study authors found. However, cognitively demanding tasks, tasks that require a high level and amount of brain power, did not show a significant improvement in performance with micro-breaks, according to the analysis. Studies have revealed that, for people in these situations, a short break could replenish vigor, but not fully replenish the mental resources needed to complete the task.
Not all breaks are created equal
Non-work-related recovery activities showed higher levels of emotional improvement compared to work-related breaks, according to the analysis. Unrelated activity could include physical exercise, such as walking, which the researchers found was associated with reduced fatigue and increased positive emotions. Watching a short video clip was linked to better recovery and performance, according to the analysis. Short work-related breaks, such as checking email or helping a colleague, were associated with reduced sleep quality and well-being as well as increased negative mood, according to the report. Whatever workers decide to do on their break should be something they enjoy, said Emily Hunter, professor and department chair at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Hunter was not involved in the study. In her research, she found that people who engaged in activities they preferred during their breaks were associated with a high level of recovery after the break.
How often should you take a mini break?
The analysis did not look at how often people should pause for mini-breaks, but Macsinga recommended that workers take them as often as they need. “When we take a short break when we feel the need, we can notice that new ideas start flowing again easily,” he said. The frequency of breaks needed can depend on the type of work a person is doing, Hunter said. Physically demanding work will have different break needs than cognitive work, he said. Creative tasks may also require longer breaks than repetitive activities, he added. In her research, Hunter found that frequent short breaks throughout the day were generally beneficial. “Just as we need to keep drinking water to stay hydrated, we also need to take frequent, short breaks to stay focused,” she said.
title: “Mini Breaks At Work Can Increase Well Being But Only In Some Cases Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-08” author: “Rodney Farmer”
Taking breaks during the workday is often seen as a worker being lazy or unproductive, which can make people feel guilty for taking them, Macsinga said. The goal of her report was to demonstrate that short breaks are valuable for both workers and organizations. “It seemed pretty inconceivable to me to have a busy week and wait for the weekend just to feel better, or to have a rough day at the office and count the hours until night,” she said. Studies included in the analysis looked at how breaks of 10 minutes or less affected either students in a laboratory setting or workers in a workplace setting and were from the United States, the Netherlands, China, Austria, Germany, Australia, Brazil and Japan. Mini-breaks appeared to only positively affect workers performing certain types of tasks. According to the report, study participants engaged in routine or creative work benefited from short breaks. Routine tasks are activities done with a high level of automation that do not require a person to use the full capacity of their brain. This can cause the mind to wander to other or unrelated tasks, increasing the chances of a mistake, the analysis noted. A break can reduce the risk of mistakes and refocus the worker’s attention on the task at hand, according to the report. According to the analysis, creative tasks require a person to search their brain for information relevant to what they are doing while suppressing ideas that are off-topic. Short breaks allow the worker to focus on an activity that is different from the one they are working on, which can increase flexibility and improve creative performance, the study authors found. However, cognitively demanding tasks, tasks that require a high level and amount of brain power, did not show a significant improvement in performance with micro-breaks, according to the analysis. Studies have revealed that, for people in these situations, a short break could replenish vigor, but not fully replenish the mental resources needed to complete the task.
Not all breaks are created equal
Non-work-related recovery activities showed higher levels of emotional improvement compared to work-related breaks, according to the analysis. Unrelated activity could include physical exercise, such as walking, which the researchers found was associated with reduced fatigue and increased positive emotions. Watching a short video clip was linked to better recovery and performance, according to the analysis. Short work-related breaks, such as checking email or helping a colleague, were associated with reduced sleep quality and well-being as well as increased negative mood, according to the report. Whatever workers decide to do on their break should be something they enjoy, said Emily Hunter, professor and department chair at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Hunter was not involved in the study. In her research, she found that people who engaged in activities they preferred during their breaks were associated with a high level of recovery after the break.
How often should you take a mini break?
The analysis did not look at how often people should pause for mini-breaks, but Macsinga recommended that workers take them as often as they need. “When we take a short break when we feel the need, we can notice that new ideas start flowing again easily,” he said. The frequency of breaks needed can depend on the type of work a person is doing, Hunter said. Physically demanding work will have different break needs than cognitive work, he said. Creative tasks may also require longer breaks than repetitive activities, he added. In her research, Hunter found that frequent short breaks throughout the day were generally beneficial. “Just as we need to keep drinking water to stay hydrated, we also need to take frequent, short breaks to stay focused,” she said.
