Burnt out at work? Combining short breaks with these strategies may help

Do you ever feel unmotivated, unfocused or low on energy at work? One solution may lie not only in taking regular short breaks, but also in using them as well as possible.

Taking small pauses — or micro-breaks — and combining them with meaningful organising strategies can improve productivity, boost mental wellbeing and help people better manage energy levels.

Stacey Parker, an associate professor from the University of Queensland's School of Psychology in Brisbane/Meanjin, led a recent study involving 91 participants and analysing more than 600 work hours that examined different approaches to managing energy levels at work, and the effect those approaches have on staff wellbeing, motivation and stress. 

"There are lots of things people can do to stay energised and motivated at work, including taking a quick walk, chatting to a colleague or planning their goals for the day," Dr Parker said.

But she said combining these short breaks with an intentional focus on organising work tasks was the most effective way to help people better regulate their energy levels.

Why is it important to take micro-breaks?

In addition to having the potential to improve focus and energy levels at work, taking micro-breaks can also aid in the prevention of serious health conditions.

Scott Pedersen, a senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania and director of its Human-Activity Behaviour Intervention and Transformation (HABIT) laboratory, said there were enzymes in our blood that protect us from metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, deep vein thrombosis and gout, ailments that usually come later in life.

"After about 45 minutes, if you're in a sedentary position, these enzymes shut off," he said.

"But by simply standing up, you could reactivate the muscles — your legs, your hamstrings — that engage the core and reactivate these enzymes.

"The more movement that you do, the better, so we would encourage people to do a walk as opposed to just stand."

Five types of micro-breaks

Dr Parker said her team's research into the effective use of micro-breaks found "five common patterns, or energy-management profiles" that people tend to adopt throughout their workdays.

These include: 

• Moving, by taking short physical breaks to walk or stretch;
• Socialising, by using a short break to connect with colleagues for brief social or work-related conversations;
• Meaningful organising, such as planning and updating to-do lists;
• Active strategising, which combines taking micro-breaks with meaningful organising strategies within the same hour; and
• Passive strategising, which involves staying mainly focused on work tasks with minimal use of energy-management strategies.

"The most effective profile was one that paired those micro-breaks with the work-related strategies, so organising, setting goals, reflecting on meaning," Dr Parker said.

"In an hour, people who took some type of break or a few little breaks, but also paid some attention on how to optimise their work. That was the best for energy, but also they were more motivated in their work, and they felt like they were mastering their work as well, so it had multiple benefits."

But Dr Parker said this strategy "happened very rarely", with the active strategising approach only used in 6 per cent of the total hours analysed.

"About 65 per cent of the hours were what we called passive strategising, where people weren't doing very much of anything.

"And then there was a small amount of hours [9 per cent] where people did only the work-related strategies, and doing them alone, not paired with a micro-break, made people feel a little bit more motivated, but not more energised and not better in terms of their stress regulation."

What can we do to improve our focus?

With ever-increasing workloads and Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing a continuing decline in productivity, Dr Parker acknowledged "there can be a bit of concern or guilt over taking a break".

"But that work is always going to be sitting there waiting for you, and a brief little two-to-five-minute micro-break, just to take a chance to rest your attention, re-conserve some of your energy, and then face work again is going to be so beneficial.

"My advice would be to maybe do some of those work-related strategies first — take some notes of where you're up to on the tasks you're doing and what you need to do next — to kind of have a nice pause to your workflow, and then take your micro-break."

Employers and managers have an important role to play, too, Dr Parker said.

"They just need to be empathetic to employees' needs and respect their boundaries when they are taking a rest."

If you need some encouragement to change your habits and start taking regular micro-breaks, Dr Pedersen suggested setting a timer to go off once an hour.

"Every time it goes off in an hour, get up and take a movement break," he said.

"If you go to a construction site, you have to wear a hard hat; you don't get the choice in that, it's to save your life, and we're kind of coming from the same angle here.

"It's not as drastic … it's happening downstream in 30 years, but it's something that's just as important in my mind."