Staying Attentive in the workplace is becoming more challenging. Whether you are in the office or work from home, there seems to be more distractions arising that can shift your focus away from your work tasks.

An inability to focus on work can lead to procrastination or multitasking, both of which can result in stress. Considering that in 2022 75% of Australians felt stressed at least once a week when working (Safe Work Australia 2023), it’s important to address your individual focus levels to minimise your risk of work related stress

Breaks keep workers focused and engaged in their work which enables them to complete their tasks more accurately with fewer errors (Ferguson, n.d.). Breaks can also reduce stress. A stressful issue at work can contribute to negative behaviors such as irritability. Skipping lunch frequently can cause stress and fatigue.

As defined by the dictionary, a break is “an interruption in continuity, a pause in work or during an activity or event”.

Breaks allow you to pause and rest so that you can resume whatever you’re doing with new energy.

Unfortunately, breaks are often associated with guilt, and this is because while on a break, you’re often still and seemingly doing nothing and you can’t prove that this “doing nothing” will help you do, feel and perform better in the future.

This is not your fault, but the fault of how our society has been built and the values that have been instilled in us: time is money and somebody who isn’t actively doing something is literally wasting someone else’s money or not generating money at all.

But times have changed and new insights have been acquired on the benefits of breaks. It’s time to acknowledge how critical breaks are for our mental and physical health. Breaks are like sleep and food, and you can’t skip them if you want to function properly. They are the reason you’re actually functioning properly.