The easy answer to this question is a resounding yes! Which company in their right mind would deny its employees a meal and break and expect them to be productive, let alone happy? If there are companies out there that exhibit this pattern of behaviour, they are likely in the minority however, sooner or later, they will be found out. Most smart business leaders know that corporate profits will not increase with a tired and unproductive workforce.
Below is a list of 5 good reasons why meal and rest breaks help employees. It can also be applied, to the do-gooder of an employee who refuses to take breaks and have to be nagged by their manager to do so.
This list of reasons to take a lunch break is from an article, published by Belle Beth Cooper, co-founder of Exist for the online magazine Fast Company. We have rearranged their order of appearance:
- Spend time in nature to refresh your attention span
To come back refreshed after a lunch break, spend some time in nature. Studies have shown that a walk in a quiet park is sufficient to refresh our attention spans so we can return to work with renewed focus. (A walk down a city street, on the other hand, was found to require so much attention to complete that it didn’t let the brain relax fully.)
- Take a real break for greater concentration
Of all the ways to use your lunch break to set yourself up for a great afternoon, the most important might be, well, actually taking a break. In many industries, lunch breaks are getting shorter and shorter, or even nonexistent. These days, only one in five office workers reports taking an actual lunch break away from their desk, according to a survey by workplace consulting group Right Management.
- Move to a café after lunch for improved creativity
There are a couple of reasons working from a café could be a good change for your afternoon work period. Firstly, the ambient sound of a café has been shown to be the most beneficial sound level for creativity. Moderate noise levels, unlike silence or a noisy environment, increase processing difficulty just enough to push us out of our comfort zones and into more creative thinking.
- Eat! (The right foods for better brain function)
OK, this one might seem obvious. But even if you’re trying to lose weight or run errands on your lunch break, don’t skip on eating a midday meal, or at least a snack. Your nutrition–particularly your glucose intake–will decide your productivity for the rest of the day.
- Work out–the afternoon is the best time for exercise
Another thing determined by our body clocks is the best time to work out. You’ll want a late lunch break to fit this one in as well: physical performance is generally highest, and the risk of injury lowest, from 3-6 p.m. Plus, from 2-6 p.m., muscle strength is at its peak, and even your lungs perform better in the late afternoon than at midday.
As illustrated by the above mentioned reasons, the benefits of taking meal breaks are both healthy and productive. In fact, studies show that just getting away from the desk and hanging out with coworkers during your lunch break can boost your mood.
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