“Basically, microbreaks help you manage your energy resources throughout the day – and this is particularly beneficial on days when you are tired.” – NCSU Researcher
RALEIGH – Recent research shows that people are more likely to do microbreaks at work on days when they’re tired – but that’s not a bad thing. The researchers found that microbreaks appear to help tired employees recover from morning fatigue and become better involved with work throughout the day.
At stake are the microbreaks, which are short, voluntary and improvised breaks from the workday. Microbreaks include discretionary activities, such as snacking, talking to a colleague, stretching, or working on a crossword puzzle.
“A microbreak is, by definition, short,” says Sophia Cho, co-author of an article on the job and an assistant professor of psychology at North Carolina State University. “But a five-minute break can be great if you do it at the right time. Our study shows that it is in a company’s interest to empower employees in terms of using micro-brakes when needed – this helps employees effectively manage their energy and get involved in their work throughout the day. “
The new article is based on two studies that explored issues related to microbreaks in the workday. Specifically, the studies aimed to improve our understanding of how people increase or maintain their energy levels throughout the day to engage in work, even when they start the day already exhausted. The studies also looked at what factors can play a role in determining whether people make microbreaks or what they do during these microbreaks.
The first study surveyed 98 workers in the United States. Study participants were asked to complete two surveys a day for 10 consecutive working days. The surveys were carried out in the morning and at the end of the workday. The second study included 222 workers in South Korea. This study had participants who completed three surveys a day for five business days. Study participants responded to the surveys in the morning, after lunch and at the end of the workday.
The research questions in both studies aimed to collect data on the sleep quality of each study participant, levels of fatigue, as well as their involvement with work and their experiences in the workplace that day. In the studies, the researchers analyzed the research data with statistical tools to examine day-to-day fluctuations in sleep quality, fatigue, work behavior and involvement in various types of microbreaks.
The results were straightforward: on the days when people were tired when they arrived at work, they tended to do the micro-breaks more often. And making the microbreaks helped them to maintain their energy level. This, in turn, helped them to meet work demands and become better involved with work.
“Basically, microbreaks help you manage your energy resources throughout the day – and this is particularly beneficial on days when you are tired,” says Cho.
In addition, the researchers found that people were more likely to make microbreaks feel that their employer was concerned about the health and well-being of their workers.
“When people think their employer is concerned about their health, they feel more empowered to make decisions freely about when to use micro-disruptions and what type of micro-fractures to take,” says Cho. “And this is good for both the employer and the employee.”
The article, “Daily microbreaks in a lens of self-regulatory resources: Perception of the health climate as a contextual moderator via microbreak autonomy”, was published in Journal of Applied Psychology. The article was co-authored by Sooyeol Kim, of the National University of Singapore, and Youngah Park, of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
(C) NCSU