Coffee Breaks Don't Boost Productivity After All

Coffee Breaks Don't Boost Productivity After All

(Harvard Business Review – May 2012)

Post: by, Lewis (B8699: Digital Marketing Strategy & Tactics (MBA))

According to this article in the May issue of Harvard Business Review, research has found that taking breaks from work does not boost employee energy levels as much as people had previously thought.  While vacations and time away from work help people to decompress and improve their moods, the positive effects felt from these breaks wear off after a few weeks and people return to square one.  The article does not discuss the long term benefits of breaks, in terms of overall health, and I’m not sure if it’s even possible to measure this connection, but it did point out interesting findings related to short breaks - referred to as "microbreaks"- throughout the day and their effects on work productivity.  According to the research, short breaks that were unrelated to work – such as coffee breaks, bathroom breaks, taking personal calls, or taking a walk outside – did not improve people’s energy levels or productivity.  However, short breaks that involved work - such as talking to co-worker about a project or praising that co-worker on her work - maintained energy levels and kept productivity at higher levels than non-work-related breaks.  This finding is not surprising to me.  I find that any time I get off track from my task, it is that much harder to get back on and restart the engine.  It seems logical that work-related breaks fuel the fire, because your brain continues to be stimulated and nourished by the same type of material.  I think it helps to move around and change the scenery a bit in order to avoid brain busts or irritability, but I think that limiting the amount and frequency of non-work-related breaks is a good thing.  For me, it is much more difficult to get back to work after tuning out for a bit.