The Importance of Taking Breaks During Work

In our productivity-obsessed world, employees find countless hacks for working more efficiently — from early-morning sessions to strategic bathroom trips and work sprints.

However, taking regular breaks during work may actually maximize productivity the most.

It might sound counterintuitive, but studies show that effective work breaks contribute to more efficient, higher-quality performance during your work period — and they protect your health, too.

Find out how to take the most “productive” breaks at work, considering important factors like duration, location and activity. Then, learn how to further maximize your work break benefits with a little help from Zebra CBD.

What Happens When You Don’t Take Breaks at Work?

You may feel tempted to power through when facing a tight deadline or skip your lunch break in favor of a few desk-friendly snacks — just this once, you tell yourself. Your supervisor might praise you for your commitment in the short run, but habitually avoiding rest and meal breaks can eventually deplete your energy and decrease your work quality — also known as burnout.

Burnout impacts at least 59% of U.S. employees. Everyone experiences burnout differently, but many characterize it as:

Feeling physically and emotionally exhausted
Losing interest or satisfaction in your work
Devolving into unhealthy eating or sleeping habits
Being more irritable, sad or apathetic
Feeling overly stressed and out of control

Burnout leads employees down a slippery slope of inefficiency. Working hard with an empty tank may cause you to make mistakes, increasing your workload and prompting you to work even harder — that is, until your engine sputters out completely.

To stave off burnout, there’s one simple, research-backed solution that more employees (and supervisors) are turning to: taking regular breaks.

Benefits of Work Breaks

Researchers have closely studied workers’ habits and found that regular, effective breaks can significantly improve overall work performance. Some benefits include:

Stress relief
Improvements in memory and focus
Increasing productivity and engagement
Better decision-making capabilities
Healthy habit-building

In other words, employee breaks benefit more than your work — they boost your mental health and well-being, too. If you want to establish the work-life balance every employee desires, start by scheduling meal and rest breaks into your workday, even if it's just a few short breaks to reset.

How to Take Effective Breaks at Work

What does “taking a break” mean to you? Do you scroll social media on your phone? Take a walk around the office building? Maybe even roll out a yoga mat for a quick meditation session?

According to research, not all breaks offer equal benefits.

Nearly all employees say they spend their breaks checking their socials. Yet, despite the time away from work, these types of breaks can exhaust you further and hinder your work performance.

Instead, embrace a mini digital detoxduring your rest period and consider these healthier approaches to break time:

Micro-breaks – Just a few minutes away from work periodically throughout your day can help you reset and power on. Examples of micro-breaks include stretching, grabbing a snack, deep breathing and looking up from your computer. These short breaks benefit you most in the morning when your energy levels are still high. Later in the afternoon, you may need a longer rest.
Movement– Research shows that engaging your brain differently than you do while working can maximize the benefits of your rest break. If your brain needs a rest, work your body instead. Make a quick trip to the gym, try a few yoga poses or take the stairs in your office for a mind-body reset.
Outdoor time – Simply changing your location for rest breaks can boost creative thinking and enhance your recharge. Embrace the serenity of nature and the benefits of outdoor exerciseby stepping outside for a walk or a few breaths of fresh air before returning to your desk.

Many workplaces now recognize the importance of taking breaks during working hours: more supervisors take meal and rest breaks themselves and encourage employees to do the same. Some even incorporate designated break time into the workday to ensure employees have time to rest and rejuvenate.

If your workplace doesn’t support breaks during working hours as strongly as it should, talk to your supervisor about the benefits of work breaks and ways they can encourage employees to take advantage of them. In some cases, it might also be necessary to look into the local employment laws protecting employee breaks, which could include rest break requirements or meal break laws, to make sure you're getting the rest you're entitled to, whether it be paid rest breaks or unpaid breaks.

Maximize Your Work Break’s Benefits with CBD

CBD can help promote an even better mindset for relaxing and de-stressing when work threatens to invade your break time.

Cannabidiol or CBD — one of the main chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant — doesn’t produce any psychoactive effects, so you won’t have to worry about a high hindering your job performance. Instead, CBD may:

Boost mood – Many people with difficult or unpleasant jobs experience a mix of negative emotions throughout the day: nervousness, frustration and fatigue, to name a few. CBD can uplift low moods and reinstate a positive mindset, relieve work-related stress and improve focus — benefiting you for the rest of your workday.
Soothe body aches – Excessive work can put your body under as much tension as your mind. Labor-intensive jobs can easily cause joint and muscle soreness, as can hunching over a desk or standing for extended periods. Fortunately, CBD can help reduce inflammation and relax tense muscles to help you fully unwind while on rest breaks.

You can choose from a wide variety of CBD products, from our CBD topicals like balms, rubs, and CBD hemp oil for sale, to our CBD edibles like our hemp pills and CBD gummies for sale. Some products also contain other natural ingredients for added benefits and targeted relief.

CBD in the Workplace

Because CBD is often associated and used in tandem with THC, there are many locations where the rules surrounding CBD are a bit of a gray area, from traveling with CBD internationallyto using it in the workplace. Thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp and hemp-derived CBD products are legal to manufacture and buy in the U.S. However, some workplaces may have more stringent rules about CBD use.

What’s more, many employees worry that consuming CBD will cause a positive result on a drug test at work. But that depends on which form of CBD you use.

Full-spectrum products contain all compounds from the cannabis plant, including small amounts of THC, which can potentially show up on a drug test. CBD isolates and broad-spectrum CBD, on the other hand, contain no THC. That said, always use caution and purchase your CBD products from a trusted source that guarantees label accuracy.

Additionally, look into your workplace’s cannabis regulations and drug testing requirements to find out whether CBD is the right break buddy for you.

Introduce Zebra CBD to Your Work Break Routine

Zebra CBD makes it easier to relax and recharge during the busiest working hours.

We design our products with specific conditions in mind so you can effectively target your stressors. For soothing relief, try our CBD Tension & Stress Tablets. Or, for a mid-workday pick-me-up, try our CBD Mood & Calm Gummies. To introduce CBD to your rest habits - if you enjoy a coffee or tea for relaxation mix up a CBD tea or CBD coffee by adding a few drops of our oil to your daily cup.

You can also trust Zebra CBD products to contain exactly what they say on the label. In fact, we’re currently the only CBD company with a Label Accuracy Guarantee™. Browse our wide selection now and discover how CBD can enhance your work break.

Banish burnout and improve work performance by taking breaks at work — with help from Zebra CBD.

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