Ever been tired at work and you just need to sneak away for five minutes? Or do you continue to power on and hope the tiredness will go away on its own? A recent study has looked at the benefits of taking micro-breaks throughout the day to help fight off the tiredness and can actually boost productivity as well!
A professor of psychology at the North Carolina State University looked into the effects of taking micro-breaks at work and their effect on the overall performance of that employee. Two studies were conducted with the first looking at 98 workers in the United States and required them to complete two surveys per day for 10 consecutive working days. The second study enlisted 222 workers in South Korea who completed three studies per day for five work days. Both surveys queried the participant’s sleep quality, level of fatigue, engagement with their work, and their experiences at the work place that day.
The results were as you would expect; on days that people were already fatigued, more micro-breaks were taken. With these micro-breaks occurring, participants recorded them helping maintain their energy levels through the day and meet their work demands. This is particularly beneficial on days where you are more tired as the prevalence of micro-breaks increase. Interestingly, the researcher found that people were more likely to take these micro-breaks if they felt their employer cared about their employees’ well-being. This would then dictate the kind of micro-break the employee would take and for how long.
Overall, having a good night’s sleep is important for daily functioning and less the ill effects of fatigue during the day. If one is not able to achieve this then taking micro-breaks is a proven way to help restore the employee and boost productivity in the work place. It then comes down to the employee taking an appropriately long micro-break to ensure it doesn’t impede on their performance.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210316132124.htm
