Welcome back to your monthly productivity newsletter and from what was hopefully, a relaxing summer. For some of you, the summer pace was perhaps a little slower, not so rushed and frantic. Maybe you walked during your lunch hour to enjoy the weather or left work just a little bit earlier so you could enjoy a summer evening. Hopefully you now feel more energized as we head into the fall.

The good news is that you can hold onto this ‘re-energized’ feeling, even if you are facing an increasing workload. Read on to learn about how taking a break can keep your energy high and boost your productivity.

Benefits of Taking a Break:

There is a wide body of research indicating that daily breaks keep us fresh, focused and engaged. A simple 10 minute brisk walk can increase our heart rate and keep us feeling energized for up to two hours. It’s not hard to see how this renewed energy can lead to higher productivity. Fresh off of a break, we’re more focused, more creative, able to work faster and have better attention to detail.

Intuitively we know that running flat out, and never stopping for a break results in more mistakes, more difficulty in concentrating, lower morale and even safety issues. Before we know it this leads to burn-out. One study cited that “stress and burn-out were among the top issues negatively impacting productivity.”

For this reason, some companies are highly recommending breaks throughout the day. The University of Toronto, realizing that refreshed employees are more productive, recently introduced a ‘Take Back the Lunch Break’ program. L.L. Bean, which has three formal stretch breaks each day among other wellness programs, realized a 70% decrease in lost-time claims after introducing these programs. Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Canada also realized improved productivity when it introduced a break program for its employees several years ago. They found that employees actually became more productive when they started introducing breaks into their days.

Making Breaks Routine Business:

Despite the benefits of taking a break, many of us can relate to feeling completely swamped by our work. On days when we can barely catch our breath, how can we possibly build in time for a break? Here are three simple things you can do to start building breaks into your workday:

1. Define a time during your day for a break, before that time gets filled up. Schedule your break in your calendar like you would any other important meeting throughout your day.
2. Make a commitment so you’re less likely to cancel. Plan to meet a colleague for a quick power walk, schedule a call with a friend or commit to running a quick errand.
3. Establish the habit. Focus on taking a daily break for three weeks. After that, it will feel like a natural part of your day. I’m also willing to bet that you’ll surprise yourself with being able to fit in all of the other important things into your day, despite taking a break.

Ultimately, I’m talking about taking 10-15 minutes away from work. These short bursts pack huge benefits by allowing you to come back to work more refreshed, motivated and ready to face whatever challenge awaits you.

And finally, I can’t stress enough how important it is that companies support their employees in taking a break. When the example is set from the top, it becomes a part of the corporate culture. Employees will feel empowered to build this productivity principle into their daily routine. And everyone (both employees and the companies they work for) benefit from the resulting improvements in productivity.