Nowadays, more and more people rack up hours at work, leading them to sometimes burn out. However, even if the number of things to do pile up, toiling away tirelessly for hours is not necessarily the best way to get things done. Quite the opposite! Working for hours at a time is tiring and makes you less focused. Efficiency decreases and you make more mistakes.
Instead of working more, we need to think about working better. The solution is to take breaks. A study at the Draugiem Group, a Latvian media company, has shown the ideal pace is 52 minutes of work followed by a 17-minute break for no more than eight hours per day. This seems to be the best work pace for employees to perform better.
Indeed, during 52 minutes of work, employees are very focused on the task at hand and work intensely. After that period of time, they take a break and step away from their computers.
If this pace doesn’t work for everyone, there are other options to work better:
- the Pomodoro method: alternate 25 minutes of work with 5-minute breaks. After four 25-minute sessions, breaks can be extended to 15-20 minutes.
- 90 minutes of work followed by a 20-minute break. This is what some athletes, musicians and actors do to improve their performance.
- two 15-minute breaks per day but away from your computer!
Taking breaks during the day, even short ones, is also good for your health, especially if you work at a computer. They help reduce back and neck pain as well as eyestrain caused by looking at a computer screen.
And do not skip lunch! Use your lunch break to eat calmly and relax with your co-workers. Even take a little walk if you can. Ideally, a break of at least 45 minutes is recommended.
Christelle Genier
