There’s a vast amount of research dedicated to showing us exactly how to have the most productive workday. But when it comes to taking breaks, we pretty much figure that out on our own. After all, there’s no best way to take a break, right?
Wrong.
There is, indeed, a right way to take breaks at work to get optimal boosts in energy, concentration and motivation, as researchers from Baylor University recently found. For the study, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, 97 employees were surveyed about their break times over a five-day workweek and asked to document what went on during each. Each person, on average, took two breaks per day, so researchers had a total of 959 break surveys to analyze. Breaks were considered any period of time during the workday in which work-relevant tasks were not required, and included lunch, coffee, personal email or socializing with colleagues.
From their analysis, they learned the following about how to take better breaks:
- Mid-morning is the best time of day to take your break since it’ll replenish more resources like energy, concentration and motivation. “We found that when more hours had elapsed since the beginning of the work shift, fewer resources and more symptoms of poor health were reported after a break,” study authors wrote. “Therefore, breaks later in the day seem to be less effective.”
- Spend your break doing activities you like, even if they’re work-related. Researchers found that when you like what you're doing, the break will feel more restful, you’ll feel better recovery, and you’ll be able to return to work stronger. And contrary to popular belief, doing non-work-related activities isn’t necessarily better. So, for instance, you might enjoy reading about something related to your job sector online more than having a coffee and looking out the window.
- Frequent short breaks are better than longer ones because shorter breaks are associated with a better yield of mental and physical resources. Although the study didn’t find a magic number for the best break duration, it appears that more frequent breaks are ideal since they allow people to recharge more often. “Unlike your cellphone, which popular wisdom tells us should be depleted to zero percent before you charge it fully to 100 percent, people instead need to charge more frequently throughout the day,” explained study co-author Emily Hunter, PhD, associate professor of management in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business.
The benefits of taking these better breaks extends to health and even job satisfaction, say the researchers. Employees who take breaks earlier in the day, doing things they prefer, have better health in the form of less somatic symptoms—including headaches, eyestrain and lower back pain—after their breaks. Moreover, they are happier with their jobs, experience decreased burnout and have increased organizational citizenship behavior.
How do you spend your breaks?
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