Better recovered with several short breaks
For every working person, the question arises as to how best to recharge your batteries in between workdays. The answer to this is simple: instead of taking a long lunch break, take several shorter breaks spread throughout the day. As the magazine “Factor A” of the Federal Employment Agency explains, the recovery gain occurs mainly in the first few minutes of a break and then continues to decrease. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, every employee is obliged to take a 30-minute break if they work more than six hours a day. However, Johannes Wendsche, occupational psychologist at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Baua), strongly recommends that employees take regular breaks, even if their working hours are shorter.
Christiane Golze from the Institute for Work and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) adds in an article in the magazine Arbeit & Gesundheit that it is best to leave the workplace during the break. According to the expert, whether you go for a short walk or simply put your feet up for a few minutes depends on the type of activity: if you have to walk around and do physical activity most of the time in your job, the body should be rested during the short breaks prefer to be left alone. However, if you mainly sit at your desk, it is advisable to move during the breaks.
Increased efficiency
The effect of several short breaks versus one long lunch break is actually quite noticeable. According to Johannes Wendsche, the performance of employees who take short breaks increases by an average of five percent compared to those who don’t. This is all the more astonishing when you consider that taking several small breaks reduces the working time. According to Wendsche, not only is the performance increased, but also the quality of the work.
For this reason, companies are well advised to generally offer short breaks openly. Last but not least, this is very advantageous for part-time employees, since they often simply do not take a break at all. The general guideline is that those doing heavy physical work should take a five-minute break after an hour, and those doing complex work should take a ten-minute break after two hours. In addition, Johannes Wendsche also makes it clear that the break should not take place at the workplace. The reason for this is that employees recover to a lesser extent if they do not leave their workplace during the break.
Thomas Weschle / Editor finanzen.net
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