Healthline: 10 Minutes? 20 Seconds? Doesn't Matter. 'Micro-breaks' from Work Are Healthy
“In their analysis, researchers reviewed the results of micro-break studies from the past 30 years. One of their most fundamental findings was that there’s no shared definition for how long a micro-break should last. They concluded that the upper limit should be about 10 minutes.
“In general, the closer you are to 10 minutes, the better you will perform. However, you will still benefit from shorter breaks,” Jennifer Bramen, PhD, a senior research scientist at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Healthline.
A 10-minute break is brief to be sure, but for micro-breaks, that’s the upper limit. So how low can you go?
Jen Summers, PsyD, a utilization review specialist at Los Angeles-based Lightfully Behavioral Health, told Healthline that “research shows that in just 27 seconds micro-breaks can reduce fatigue, increase performance, and optimize energy expenditure.”
Micro-breaks don’t take a lot of time away from the task at hand — performing your job, for example — but because they’re so short, it can be hard to know what to do.”
Some Insights From This Article
Remember to take micro-breaks! Sometimes taking a couple of seconds 30 seconds -1 minute can be beneficial in preventing fatigue and burnout when you’re doing your job.
Of course don’t substitute micro-breaks for actual breaks, micro-breaks can definitely help your stream of thought and flow and allow you to have a fast refresh, but breaks are definitely crucial for maintaining that flow for longer periods of time.
Full article is here!
#Micro-breaks #Efficiency #Breaks
@sunnyWriting4806 Thanks for sharing. My kids teachers say that they need short "brain breaks" during the school day. It makes sense that adults would need them at work, too!
@purplelady568
If kids need them we need them! Haha, thanks for sharing!
@sunnyWriting4806
This is very useful to know! I did not know that even small breaks can boost productivity and focus. I wonder how often it is recommended to take them.
@globalBraid3744
These small breaks are mostly harmless in the sense that they take less than a minute! I guess if you're able to incorporate these efficiently throughout your work flow you can theoretically use as many as needed!
@sunnyWriting4806 I completely agree. taking small breaks can prevent burn-out and help reset the mind. There's evidence suggesting that we may be working for a long time on a task and get troubled but after taking a small break the solution seems obvious in some cases! Thank you for the post!
@calmDew1576
Right, hence the term coming back to it with a fresh mind. Sometimes we get so fixated on a solution that all we really need to step back and see it again with a fresh perspective.