According to an estimate from Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American worker puts in 8.8 hours every day. That shouldn’t come as a surprise given the fact that, as one article puts it, Americans are one of the most overworked people in the world.
Unfortunately, while working long hours does pose disadvantages of its own, not taking regular breaks during the work also strangles our producitivty. Apart from that, here are four other reasons why you should take regular breaks during work:
1. Your body needs to move
People who work longer are less likely to exercise, especially when in a deskbound job involved gluing with charging stations for phones. Making use of breaks for the sake of fitness is a thoughtful commitment towards a healthier life.
This has been scientifically proven over and over again that a small break that involves some kind of physical activity benefits our health in more ways than one. So, get up every 20 minutes or so, and your body will thank you.
2. Breaks helps increase our focus
Taking frequent but intended breaks throughout the day will help you work better and faster, which increases the quality of work you put in those hours.
Recent research suggest that, when stumbling upon with long tasks such as studying afore a final exam or finalizing a concept idea, it is best to take brief breaks. Those hiatuses while lighten up our mind in much the same way as our smartphone powers up when placed on a phone kiosk.
3. Better decision making
As most of us already know, we need to think critically before making a decision. However, our capacity to think nosedives during a long shift at work. Psychologists call this phenomenon decision fatigue; one in which the burden of our work impacts the quality of our decisions.
That’s mainly because when taking a decision seems hectic to our mind, it picks the easiest option, regardless of whether it’s the best or not. Regular breaks are therefore necessary to let our mind take a back seat, consider the bigger picture and come up with more reasoned decisions.
4. It sparks creativity
If you’re stumped for ideas, taking a break might get your creative juices flowing again. It might well be the case that the burden of our work has shielded our mind from the obvious solution, which the brain can only deduce after it has put at ease for some time.