why you should take breaks in the office

We’ve all been there. We’re working on a major project with a deadline right around the corner, but we keep running into roadblock after roadblock, stress and anxiety and frustration growing, mounting, looming right over our shoulder with no relief in sight, not even after we clock out and head home because all we can think of as we eat dinner, go to bed, and sleep is work, work work, work, work, work. And while these situations are hopefully few and far between, times like these are when taking a break becomes a necessity—not just for the sake of productivity, but for the sake of your own personal wellbeing!

the benefit of taking breaks

So why exactly should you take at least one short break during your work day? Research has found that some broad benefits of taking breaks during the work day include increasing “employees’ experience of being engaged at work.” Here are some specific benefits that come about from taking short breaks:

Reduced stress:

It’s no secret that stress can hinder your ability to perform well in the office. In fact, stress has been linked to a myriad of health problems, including high blood pressure, heart problems, and increased susceptibility to diabetes and cancer; mental health problems include irritability, hopelessness, and even memory problems.

Not to worry though! Taking breaks while at work has been proven to reduce stress throughout the day. It’s suggestedthat when you begin to feel overwhelmed with stress—classic signs include increased frustration and decreased energy and motivation—it is best to take a short break to give your mind a rest from being exposed to the source of your stress.

Boosted physical well-being:

Outside of reducing stress, taking breaks during the workday can also provide plenty of benefits to your physical health. In the modern workforce, “sedentary jobs have increased 83% since 1950, according to the American Heart Association.” Meanwhile, the average office employee sits an alarming 15 hours every day. Such an inactive lifestyle is detrimental to our health, with the Mayo Clinic finding that “those who sat for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity had a risk of dying similar to the risks of dying posed by obesity and smoking.” After all, our species didn’t evolve to sit in front of a screen for hours on end.

Taking breaks throughout the workday provides the perfect opportunity to introduce more activity back into your life. From a quick stretching session to a walk around your building’s perimeter, the possibilities to get active during a break are endless, all of which get you out of your seat to do what your body has evolved to do—move! The Mayo Clinic claims that even “leisurely movement” can have profound impacts on our health.

Increased motivation and productivity:

Research suggests that working on a task for prolonged amounts of time decreases your ability to perform well on the task. This phenomenon may be linked to the process in which your brain eventually ignores a stimulus after extended exposure to it—eg. when you become accustomed to the smell of something after being exposed to its scent for a long time. Similar things may happen to actual thoughts: “if sustained attention to a sensation makes that sensation vanish from our awareness, sustained attention to a thought should also lead to that thought's disappearance from our mind.” And if a task eventually disappears from your mind, then your motivation and productivity to work on it will also vanish!

Consequently, getting some space away from a project after working on it for a while will give your brain some much needed space. It could clear any roadblocks impeding your progress, and enable you to bring a fresh perspective to the task, rejuvenating your motivation and boosting your productivity!

types of breaks

Clearly, the reasons why you should take at least a few short breaks during your workday are plentiful. But what exactly should you be doing on your break? Here are some ideas:

Exercise: As mentioned earlier, breaks are the perfect time to get active and burn some calories! Some other ideas include light calisthenics (eg. body weight squats, push-ups, jumping jacks) and even busting a move to your favorite song (with some headphones on, of course)!
Take some deep breaths: The benefits of deep breathing are bountiful. A prominent positive effect is that deep breathing helps induce the relaxation response, the process that helps us get out of the stress response—the flight or fight response brought about by many of our modern stressors.
Explore your creativity: There’s no reason why your breaks shouldn’t fun, as well! Getting creative on your break by drawing some doodles or writing a few lines of poetry can be a chance to let the more artistic side of your brain take the reins, while the analytical side takes a break. It might even spark some new ideas for whatever project you were working on!
Check in with your surroundings: Using your break to truly connect with the environment around you could get you out of your head and back in the present moment. Try to notice something new about your office space that you never noticed before, be it an interesting light fixture or the buzz of the street outside.
Connect with your coworkers: Getting social on your break is a great way to connect with your coworkers (just make sure that they are on break and want to chat as well)! Strong rapport and camaraderie is essential to building an office community, so using a break to discuss current events or your weekend plans with your colleagues could be an important step to strengthening your team as a whole.
Go outside: It’s been theorized that humans have an innate desire to connect with nature, an idea known as the biophilia hypothesis. Using your break to step outside and reconnect with the great outdoors has been proven to have many benefits, including enhanced physical and mental well-being.

in conclusion

Ultimately, taking a few short breaks during your workday yields a range of benefits, from improving your overall well-being, to sparking some new approaches for whatever you were working on in the first place! Your office’s break room is an important space to give employees an area to relax. And here at Facility Solutions Plus, we have a range of products—from lounge chairs to state-of-the-art pods—to ensure that your break room helps your employees rest and recharge.

Facility Solutions Plus is a client-centered, full-service commercial office furniture dealership and service provider that specializes in meeting needs, solving problems and enhancing the total office environment through customized, cost-effective workspace solutions...and more.