Importance of Micro-Breaks in the Workplace
Office workstations and the health of office workers has become an increasingly hot topic – and understandably so. Many of us spend our day at computer workstations for 6-8 hours, sometimes more! Now more than ever, we need to look at how we’re working to ensure we are doing our best to maintain our health while being productive. It seems that for many of us, taking breaks during the day is out of the question. Only one in five employees takes an actual lunch break, according to a 2012 Right Management survey of more than 1,000 North American workers.1 If you think it’s going to be tough, let us share with you some ways to make it easier!
The key: micro-breaks. That’s right – micro, meaning small! A micro-break doesn’t have to mean leaving your desk for 15 minutes. There are a variety of ways to incorporate a micro-break. Check out the list below for some easy ways to break up your workday:
- Alternating your job tasks
- Taking a phone call
- Responding to emails to break up a prolonged task
- Stretching at your desk or in your office
- Going to fill up your water bottle
- Relaxation/deep breathing techniques
- Hosting walking or standing meetings
- Walking to a coworkers’ desk to ask them a question rather than calling
Stretching and taking regular short breaks can help to prevent repetitive strain injuries. According to the Canadian Safety Council, a good rule of thumb to follow is: for continuous desk or computer work, one five-minute break per hour is recommended.3
More and more, workers are attempting to meet the high demands of their employers by abandoning their lunch breaks, working through lunch rather than breaking their day up and leaving their desk. Not only do we miss out on the recharge opportunity of stepping away from our work, we lose out on our opportunity to recharge nutritionally. We all need fuel to keep going and skipping your lunch break to work may only make things more difficult later in the day when you’re running out of steam.
Do you find yourself succumbing to high demands too often? Need a little help? Plan breaks into your day – literally schedule them as meetings into your calendar so that your time is protected. Taking shorter, more frequent breaks may help to improve your stamina and lead to fewer discomforts.
According to a Globe and Mail article, and Health.com, some of the benefits of taking micro-breaks throughout your workday are1, 2:
- Returning to work [after a break] more productive
- Higher job satisfaction
- Reduced emotional exhaustion and/or stress
- Reduced injury rates
- Improved morale
- Increased creative thinking
- Different perspective, different outlook – may lead to better decisions
- Lowers your risk of coronary heart disease
- Better work-life balance
So, if you think taking a break is too difficult to accomplish, don’t stress! We just went over a number of ways you can make micro-breaks happen. Everyone benefits – you, your employer and your colleagues! Maintain a happy and healthy work-life balance by trying to implement some of the above options into your next work day. Find out which options work best for you and watch the benefits roll in! You can thank us later!