Take the break
Short breaks during the workday help you feel more energized and less tired. In a 2022 review of 22 studies, Patricia Albulescu and her colleagues found that micro-breaks of 10 minutes or less boosted people's energy and reduced fatigue. The breaks also helped performance on routine tasks, though less so on very demanding mental work. Taking a short break isn't slacking off. It's part of doing good work.
When was the last time you took a real break during your workday?
Not scrolling your phone at your desk. Not eating lunch while answering email. A real break, where you stepped away and did nothing productive for a few minutes.
If you're like most of the business owners I coach, you can't remember. There's always one more thing. Breaks feel like something you'll take once you're caught up.
You're never caught up.
What the research found
In 2022, Patricia Albulescu and a team of researchers pulled together 22 studies on micro-breaks, short breaks of 10 minutes or less during the workday.
The breaks made a clear difference in how people felt. People reported more energy and less fatigue after taking them.
For performance, the picture was more mixed. Micro-breaks helped people do better on routine tasks, like data entry or admin work. On really demanding mental work, short breaks didn't make as big a difference on their own. Longer breaks might be needed there.
But the energy findings matter on their own. Tired people make more mistakes, get more irritable, and lose steam by mid-afternoon. A few short breaks can help you stay steady all day.
Why business owners skip them
We tend to think of breaks as time we lose. If I take ten minutes off, that's ten minutes of work that doesn't get done.
But you're not a machine. Your energy dips whether you take a break or not. If you skip the break, you just work tired. And tired work takes longer and comes out worse.
I also hear "I'll rest when the work is done." But the work is never done. That's not a reason to never rest. It's a reason to rest on purpose.
How to take better breaks
Schedule them. If they're not on the calendar, they don't happen. Try a 5- to 10-minute break every 60 to 90 minutes.
Actually step away. Leave your desk. Go outside if you can. Your phone doesn't count as a break if you're just scrolling work email.
Move your body. A short walk, stretching, refilling your water. Movement tends to help with energy.
Do something you enjoy. Talk to a friend, step outside, play with the dog, listen to a song. The point is a real break from work.
Protect a real lunch. A longer break midday helps with the afternoon slump.
And don't forget the bigger break at the end of the day. How you close out your workday matters a lot, which I wrote about in How you end your workday matters most.
What it looks like
This is a good time for me to use myself as an example. When I first started my business, I would work straight through from 8 a.m. to school pickup almost every day. No breaks, lunch at my desk, if at all. By 2 p.m., I would always feel foggy, short-tempered, and behind on my work somehow.
When I added three short breaks (a ten-minute walk mid-morning, a real lunch away from my desk, and five minutes outside at 2 before picking up the boys) everything changed.
Was I worried I would get less done? Of course. But instead, I found my afternoons felt clearer and I stopped dragging into pickup completely drained and moody.
Rest isn't the reward
A lot of us treat rest like something we earn once the work is finished. But rest isn't a prize. It's part of the work. It's what lets you keep going, day after day, without burning out.
You don't need more willpower to push through. As I wrote in Willpower isn't a battery, it's more about building a day that works with you instead of against you.
So go take the break. Your to-do list will still be there in ten minutes.
If you want help building a workweek that gets things done without running you into the ground, let's talk.
Frequently asked questions
Do short breaks improve productivity?
A 2022 review of 22 studies by Albulescu and colleagues found micro-breaks of 10 minutes or less increased energy and reduced fatigue, and improved performance on routine tasks.
How often should I take breaks at work?
A common approach is a 5- to 10-minute break every 60 to 90 minutes, plus a longer break for lunch. Adjust based on how your energy feels.
What should I do during a work break?
Step away from your desk, move your body, go outside if you can, or do something you enjoy. Scrolling work email doesn't count as a break.
Sources: Albulescu, P., Macsinga, I., Rusu, A., Sulea, C., Bodnaru, A., & Tulbure, B. T. (2022). "Give me a break!" A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of micro-breaks for increasing well-being and performance. PLOS ONE, 17(8), e0272460.
