Inc.
Working harder doesn’t mean grinding nonstop. Tiny breaks, sometimes lasting less than a minute, can restore energy, reduce fatigue and improve focus.
Want to Be More Productive, Creative, and Focused? Oddly Enough, Science Says the Key Is to Take More Microbreaks
Author: Jeff Haden
Hard work matters. To paraphrase Mark Cuban, effort is the one thing you can control. (Intelligently applying that effort is next on the list.) For many of us, our only real competitive advantage is our ability to work harder and longer than other people.
But maybe not too long, at least at one time. According to a meta-analysis of more than 20 studies published in PLOS One, microbreaks (defined as no more than 10 minutes in duration) boost vigor, reduce fatigue, and increase overall performance.
How much a small break can increase your performance depends on the nature of the task:
- If a task is “highly depleting” (an example for me is writing a book), a longer break may be necessary.
- If a task isn’t highly depleting (an example for me is responding to emails), a study published in Ergonomics found that recovery benefits can result from microbreaks as brief as 27 seconds. Another study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that 40-second microbreaks are sufficient to improve focus and increase task performance.
Clearly, recommendations on the effective length of a microbreak tend to vary, as well they should. How depleting the task is, your overall mental and physical fatigue, the emotional nature of the task (having a difficult conversation with a problem employee is definitely depleting; you’ll surely need a decent break to reset and recharge)—as with many things, your results may vary.
But what is consistent is the type of break you should take. The PLOS One meta-review found that taking work-related microbreaks — say, taking a pause from writing a book to check my email — results in decreased well-being and increased negative mood. On the flip side:
- Physical activities, like walking, stretching, or even just standing up, looking out the window, and letting your mind wander, result in decreased fatigue and increased positive mood.
- Relational activities, like checking in with family or friends, or chatting it up with a colleague down the hall, boost energy.
- Watching a short video (lately I’ve enjoyed the Drew Builds Stuff series in small bites) results in increased recovery and performance.
In short, if you want a microbreak to increase your energy and boost your focus, you have to take a break from work.
If you can’t take a break, then what you do needs to be as mindless as possible. For me, checking e-mail still requires focus, thought, and attention; doing a little bookkeeping does not. Planning what I’ll do tomorrow takes thought and focus; straightening up my work area does not.
If you absolutely have to stay work-busy, do things during a microbreak that get you up, get you moving, and require as little mental effort as possible.
That’s especially true for boosting creativity. Whenever divergent thinking — free-flowing, spontaneous, non-linear idea generation — is required, taking short breaks improves your ability to think outside the box. So does letting a problem marinate: A study published in Psychological Bulletin found that you tend to benefit from setting a problem aside for a bit, and then coming back to it.
Add it all up, and taking a 10-minute break every hour or two won’t set you back. While those minutes may feel lost, you’ll more than make up for that time by being able to work harder, smarter, and more creatively when you re-engage.
Microbreaks aren’t an indulgence. They’re a competitive advantage.
Because how many hours you work will always make a difference, but the quality of what you get done matters just as much.
Credits: TCA, LLC.