Avoiding Workplace Burnout: The Importance of Coffee Breaks

When you are working, coffee breaks are an essential part of your day. Not only are you entitled to 20 minutes of uninterrupted break a day if you work six or more hours, but taking regular breaks away from your work can be beneficial.

And with 76% of workers feeling they are too busy to take their breaks, it is more important than ever to understand the benefits of regular screen breaks!

Whether you are cutting the night-shift hours with a vanilla coffee or you are stepping away from your desk for a brief latte and a chat in your work’s communal space, making sure you get adequate rest during your workday is essential.

Here, we will explore some of the reasons why coffee breaks are essential additions to your workday.

Socialising

Coffee breaks can actually help you get integrated into the company culture and embrace socialising at work. By removing yourself from your computer once in a while, you can talk to new and exciting people, learn more about your colleagues, and make better connections. This is great for networking too. In fact, 75% of workers claim to make good friendships with their work colleagues, extending the connection outside of the office. While 2.9 billion people avoid making small talk with their colleagues, these in-person interactions are good for your mental well-being.

Collaboration

This socialisation can then help you with your work tasks. As you talk more to colleagues from across the business, you can collaborate ideas quickly for upcoming work and projects. This might be a brief moment picking the brains of someone more senior than you, or a group of you discussing the best course of action. While you should use your official coffee breaks as a means of stepping away from your desk, grabbing a coffee during work can actually help this flow of ideas.

You might also become more comfortable talking to different teams as you meet them at the coffee machine, making reaching out to them for tasks a less daunting job.

Improves health

Work can be incredibly stressful, with the endless deadlines and task additions which can mount up.

Making sure you take a step away from your work can help you recuperate and reduce your stress levels, which is good for both your emotional and physical health. Not only can it help you reduce levels of fatigue and sleep problems, but it can reduce the likelihood of cardiovascular disease. Every hour, you should spend five minutes away from your screen in order to reduce repetitive strain injuries in your wrists and eyes.  

Increases productivity

Removing yourself from your work might seem unproductive, but actually it is beneficial for your concentration. Signs you are being overworked include poor performance, which can come from human error. If you don’t take your coffee break, you can become fatigued quickly and this can result in insufficient work quality. Instead, focus on setting some time aside to step away from your screen.

Reduce fatigue

Everyone knows of coffee’s energy-boosting quality. Making sure you take your coffee break can revitalise you, leaving you ready to complete further tasks, which may appear a bit mundane at times.

This boost is not only from the caffeine within your drink, which is done through the blocking of the sleep-promoting adenosine receptors, but also from the change in schedule and surroundings. You might consider other methods of fighting fatigue, such as taking a brisk walk. Making sure your brain remains active throughout the day can be difficult when you are completing similar tasks daily, but allowing yourself a break can help beat this.

If you are finding it difficult to concentrate at work, your mental health is deteriorating, or you are noticing signs of burnout, then taking regular coffee breaks might help. Dividing your day could mean you are better able to be productive when you are working.

If, like some, you worry about your coffee breaks seeming unproductive, then try viewing them as an opportunity to better understand your colleagues, to collaborate, and network within your company.

Sources:

https://www.verywellmind.com/why-you-should-take-a-break-3144576 https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2021/oct/caffeine-sleep-how-long-does-caffeine-keep-you-awake/#:~:text=Once%20consumed%2C%20caffeine%20is%20very,your%20brain%20called%20adenosine%20receptors