Take a break | What are 'microbreaks' and could they help employee wellbeing?

When at work, it can be tempting to power through, giving little thought to taking breaks, in an attempt to tackle big to-do lists. However, new research has suggested that taking short, regular ‘microbreaks’ can help to improve employee wellbeing – something which will be of interest to HR.

A recent study conducted by West University of Timisoara in Romania found that taking short microbreaks of about ten minutes during the working day could help to boost employee wellbeing and prevent burnout.

As was reported on by T3, the study, which was published in the Plos One journal, saw researchers look at the effect and efficiency of microbreaks on 2,000 people, based on a review of 22 formerly published studies from over the last 30 years.

What are microbreaks?

So, what exactly is a microbreak? Well, according to the researchers, it's dedicated time away from the task at hand, that lasts ten minutes or less and, the study found that “the longer the break, the better the performance”.