I hope by now it’s well-known and noncontroversial that our brains (and souls) function much better when we take breaks throughout the work day. I’m all too happy to leave behind the era of being impressed with a hardcore grind mentality, and I’m much more likely to roll my eyes at—or stage an intervention for—someone recklessly pushing through fatigue than I am to laud or admire them. 

The benefits of breaks are manifold. Breaks not only increase productivity and reduce burnout, but they can also enhance creativity, too! 

But…how do you take a break? 

I know that sounds silly, but if you think about it, what does a break actually mean? Does it just mean simply doing something different than what you were doing? Does it mean doing nothing? Does scrolling on your phone count as a break? Is it as good of a break as another kind of break?! 

At the risk of optimizing rest (which…ew…), and given that the “perfect” break is between 15 and 20 minutes, here are five different types of short breaks you can take that aren’t just staring into the void. 

1. A mindfulness break

You don’t need a meditation app or a special cushion—or even to know how to meditate—in order to take a mindfulness break. (And the benefits are scientifically proven!) Boiled down, mindfulness is the practice of focusing your attention on the present moment. One of the best ways to do that is to attach your attention for a set period of time to something sensorial: normally what you hear, see, or feel.

Try this: 

• Set a timer for 5 minutes.

• Sit quietly and comfortably in a naturally lit room in a relaxed position.

• Close your eyes, or keep them open with a soft focus. 

• Take five deep breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, then return your breath to normal.

• Then, concentrate your full attention on one of the following:

  • Your natural breath, in and out, or

  • What you can hear in the space around you, or

  • A body scan, moving your attention to each part of your body in turn from head to toe (or the other way around!)

• If you have a thought or a feeling, simply say to yourself “Thinking” or “Feeling” and return your attention to whatever it is you were focusing on. 

• You can switch your focus from one sensory input to another if you like!

As you practice this break regularly, try increasing your mindfulness time by 1 minute every week.

This one is potentially trickier to pull off at an office, but if your office has a meeting room booking system, slip in a 15-minute meeting just for you. (Besides, prioritizing time for yourself is a major part of self-care!)

2. A walking break 

Another one with scientifically proven results! Walking gives you a boost to your overall health, but it also serves a very important function during a break: it totally changes your context. Of course, this means walking outside, which isn’t always the easiest thing, depending on weather and where you live. But even 10 or 25 minutes of walking will clear your head, get you out in the daylight (combat humanity’s rampant vitamin D deficiency!), and increase your circulation. 

Bonus break: While you’re walking around outside, give a friend or family member a call for a quick chat!

3. A maker break

A fun break option, and not just because it sounds like “make or break.” Making something with your hands engages different parts of your brain than sitting in front of a computer typing. It can feel refreshing, restorative, and even meditative! 

Take 20 minutes and go create something. It could be something like a very involved snack or a fancy drink (I love a from-scratch matcha or chai latte for this), but even better is to make something in the arts and crafts realm. Think: painting, embroidery or cross stitch, crochet or knitting, paper crafts like origami or quilling, calligraphy, coloring, linocutting… The list goes on, but the important thing is that the process is either very quick to complete or “put-downable,” meaning that it’s a long-term project that you can come back to in spurts without ruining the project. (Air-dry clay sculpting is probably not a good choice, for instance.) 

My personal favorites are watercolor painting and freehand embroidery, but you can buy beginners kits for just about any kind of arts or crafts discipline if you’re not already familiar with one. 

Again, this one may be difficult to accomplish at an office, but you can always try for 15 minutes in a meeting room! 

4. A dance break 

Use this kind of break when you’re particularly stressed out. Put on upbeat music you love and just dance, by yourself (or with your pet) for 5 - 10 minutes. That’s only a couple songs! Why dancing when you’re stressed? Dancing has been shown to help regulate your nervous system by releasing the energy created during a stress response (fight, flight, freeze), which we might be in without even knowing it. So if you’ve had a tough call or a tight deadline, a dance break will release your stress and boost your happy hormones. (If you need inspiration, check out ’s dance mix on Spotify!)

Bonus break: If you can’t take time to yourself during the day to dance, combine this with your walking break and dance in the streets. Because why not?  

5. A puzzle break 

Grab yourself a puzzle app like the one from the New York Times or head to a site like Puzzmo and do a puzzle or two. Not a game, a puzzle. Word games are especially great as they help maintain cognitive connections in your brain. I am not unique in loving Wordle and Connections from the NYT, but you can also try something like the app Knotwords, which is like a crossword but without clues!

You could even go old school analog and get an actual jigsaw puzzle! Set it up somewhere—you can even do this in a public space in your office if you have one—and work on it in short bursts. If your other coworkers start to join in on their breaks, it can become a social activity! 

Bonus break: Puzzles, which require a level of concentration, absorb your full attention and rivet you to the present moment, so you’re actually practicing some mindfulness while you’re at it. 

Over to you…

What’re your favorite breaks that don’t involve doom scrolling? Let’s hear them!

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Kumbaya,Shannon & Kevan