There are various reasons as to why we should be incorporating breaks and rest periods into our working patterns and personal lives.
Research studies have found a number of benefits associated with taking breaks.
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Movement breaks are essential for your physical health. Sitting at one’s desk for prolonged periods of time has been found to increase obesity, Type II Diabetes, heart disease, cancer and premature death. According to the NHS, sitting for long periods of time slows metabolism which negatively affects the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and break-down fat. Getting up from your chair for a walk, stretch, do some yoga, walk up/down the stairs- even five minutes can make a significant difference.
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Breaks can prevent decision fatigue and give you the space to make decisions with a clearer headspace
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Breaks help to restore motivation, especially for longer tasks. It can be difficult continue to have sustained attention for long periods of time. Allowing yourself to have short, regular and adequate breaks improves concentration.
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Breaks boost productivity and creativity. Allowing yourself a five-minute break can replenish your mental resources and result in higher levels of productivity.
The NHS Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults aged 19-64 recommends that adults should undertake physical activity daily, aiming to do at least 150 minutes of moderate - intensity exercise weekly and reduce time spent sitting or lying down. We can incorporate activity into our breaks through a number of ways:
- Get moving: A brisk five-minute walk, a big stretch, a few minutes of yoga can have a substantial effect on helping you feel less lethargic and more tuned in. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines report suggests breaking up long periods of time spent sitting with small, short bursts of activity for 1-2 minutes.
- Connect with nature: If you have the ability to take in some fresh air, get outside even shortly, possibly take a hot drink with you and pause to have a moment to yourself in your busy working day. Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory (1989) proposes that spending time or exposing ourselves to nature scenes helps to improve mental fatigue and concentration.
- Change your environment: Leave your work station and give your brain the rest and ability to switch gears.
- Take a few deep breaths: Breathing is a powerful way of relaxing your mind and body. A large body of research supports Diaphragmatic Breathing as a positive means of reducing anxiety, depression and stress (Brown and Gerbarg, 2005; Anju et. al, 2015). Similarly, mindfulness meditation teaches us to use our breath as an anchor to regulate ourselves emotionally. Our mindfulness practitioner Peter Helmer runs free weekly drop-in mindfulness sessions.
We have a dedicated physical health self-resources page you can explore here.
When considering how to structure breaks for shift work, we refer to the three R’s:
Rest:
- Don’t feel guilty about taking breaks and encourage others to adopt the same attitude. A culture of skipped breaks only threatens staff and patient safety.
- Remember that health and welfare at work is enshrined in law, as outlined on the UK Government website
- If missed breaks are becoming a pattern, escalate this to your manager.
Rehydrate:
- Begin your shift well-hydrated and ensure that you keep hydrated
- Dehydration can affect your health and performance, impacting your concentration and cognitive performance triggering fatigue. One NHS study found that 45% of staff were dehydrated at the end of their shift (El-Sharkawy et. al, 2015)
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Always act on signs of dehydrated
Refuel:
- Try to pack your lunch and snacks with healthy food that will help sustain your energy levels throughout long shifts.
- As night shifts have been associated with obesity and poor health outcomes (Sun et. al, 2017), snacking on good nutritious snacks can be especially important.
- All staff should have somewhere to eat in a setting free from contamination