Microbreaks at Work: Short Breaks That Fit Between Meetings
Microbreaks are short pauses of a minute or two between tasks or meetings: stand up, look out of the window, refill your water, or take a few slow breaths. The easiest way to fit them in is to end meetings a few minutes early and let a reminder app or timer prompt you. Small breaks work best when they're planned, not left to chance.
Why plan small breaks
On a busy day, one meeting runs straight into the next, and breaks only happen when something goes wrong. A short pause between blocks gives you a moment to finish one thing before starting the next.
Microbreaks don't need a lot of time. What helps most is making them regular and easy, so they happen even on full days.
Five small breaks you can take at your desk
- Stand up. Stand for a minute, roll your shoulders, and sit back down.
- Look away. Look out of a window or at something across the room for a moment.
- Refill. Walk to get a glass of water or a coffee.
- Walk a short loop. Down the corridor and back, or around the room.
- Breathe slowly. A few slow breaths with your eyes off the screen.
Pick one or two you like. You don't need to do all five.
Make room in your calendar
Back-to-back meetings leave no time for a break. Both Outlook and Google Calendar can shorten meetings automatically.
Classic Outlook for Windows: File → Options → Calendar → tick Shorten appointments and meetings → choose how many minutes to end early.
New Outlook and Outlook on the web: open Settings → Calendar and look for the option to end meetings early, then choose how many minutes.
Google Calendar: open Settings → General → Event settings and turn on Speedy meetings. New events then end a few minutes before the hour or half hour.
These settings change new meetings you create. Meetings others send you keep their own times.
Use a reminder
It's easy to skip breaks when you're focused. A reminder takes the decision out of your hands.
- Stretchly is a free break reminder app for Windows, Mac and Linux. It shows a gentle prompt at regular intervals, and you can choose how often and how long. Get it from the official site: hovancik.net/stretchly.
- A timer works too: a phone timer or a kitchen timer on your desk, set for the length of a work block.
Fit breaks into a busy day
- Between meetings: use the minutes you gained by ending meetings early.
- Between tasks: take a short break after finishing something, before you open the next thing.
- Before the afternoon: a short walk after lunch helps mark the second half of the day.
If you often feel tired or tense at work and it lasts, talk to someone you trust or a professional.
Common mistakes
- Checking messages as a "break". Scrolling email or chat keeps your mind on work. Step away from the screen instead.
- Planning long breaks you never take. A one-minute break that happens is better than a 15-minute break that doesn't.
- Turning off every reminder on busy days. Busy days are when breaks help most. Snooze a reminder rather than switching it off.
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