Microbreaks: the science of resting for better performance
What are microbreaks?
What does science say about microbreaks?
Why do microbreaks work so well?
How to effectively implement microbreaks?
Direct benefits for your productivity and attention
Microbreaks are very short pauses (from a few seconds to a few minutes) that you take during your workday to mentally recover.
Although brief, these active breaks have a great power to improve your performance.
Various studies have shown that taking multiple short breaks helps reduce mental fatigue, maintain high levels of attention, and significantly improve productivity.
For example, researchers at the University of Illinois found that small breaks during prolonged tasks notably increase your ability to concentrate (source).
When you take brief breaks, especially if they involve moving, drinking water, or briefly changing your environment, you help your brain to:
To get the maximum benefit, try:
Incorporating microbreaks into your day is not a waste of time, it is investing it wisely.
By doing so, you will quickly notice:
Start introducing microbreaks into your routine from today and enjoy their physical and mental benefits.
- Recover spent mental energy.
- Briefly disconnect from the task, enhancing your creativity and perspective.
- Reduce accumulated stress during focused work.
- Take an active break of 1–2 minutes every 25–30 minutes of intense work.
- Stand up and stretch briefly or look out the window to a distant point.
- Briefly step away from screens and intense visual attention tasks.
- Increased concentration on your tasks.
- More energy and less fatigue at the end of your day.
- Stress reduction and improvement of your overall well-being.