Why Taking a Break Can Help With Productivity

Why Taking a Break Can Help With Productivity

We have all experienced this. You sit at your desk feeling energised and productive; start working hard on your project until your brain gets foggy and your focus is gone. Brain fog sets in and productivity flies out of the window. By then you are wishing for a break to reboot the brain, but sneezing a break in a schedule is hard. Research however shows that taking a break might be beneficial for you. The video below explains why taking a break can help with productivity.

Credits: This video was produced by SciShow Psych.

Sometimes breaks aren’t possible, but often we choose to skip a break even when they are a viable option. A UK study published in 2020 examined why people sometimes skipped breaks. There were various reasons why people skipped breaks. Some individuals thought they could get more work done if they didn’t take a break. These same individuals, however, would take breaks if it involved hanging with their coworkers.

Others who took breaks at their desk felt anxious about breaks. They worried about being perceived as slacking off or worried they could be assigned more work. So, if breaks don’t have a tangible benefit like an outing with coworkers then individuals don’t seem to take the breaks, because even though they were entitled to a break they felt pressured to be productive. So breaks might seem like a waste of time because it doesn’t seem to lead to progress. But breaks can have a very positive effect on your work and you.

Small breaks, like watching a short video, can help in multiple ways as explained in the video.

H/T happilyDaily