We all need a little coffee break throughout the working day. Some days, you need more than one. Just ten to fifteen minutes away from work can help you recharge your batteries, refreshing you for reasons beyond the caffeine alone. However, if you’re willing to put a little more into your breaks, they can be even more effective, too. Here, we’re going to look at a few habits you should start integrating into your coffee breaks so that you can give yourself the mini reset your brain needs.
Get A Change In Surroundings
Where you take your coffee break matters just as much as taking it. If you’re staying at the same desks that you’ve been working at all morning, then you’re going to stay thoroughly in work mode. Whether you’re going outdoors for a second, sitting at a cafe table, or even just stepping out on your balcony, new surroundings can help your nervous system shift gears. It takes the mental load off for a moment so that you’re better equipped to handle it when you go back into the office. Your focus is likely to be sharper because your mind was able to disengage for a few minutes. A little fresh air can make the change even more refreshing.
Stretch Your Legs
Combining a change in scenery with some movement can turn a coffee break into a more active reset than a passive pause. There’s no need to try to get an exercise routine in. Slow, unhurried movement can help you release the tension lightly, getting the blood flowing, but without the stress or expectation of a full exercise. Going around the block is better than just moving up and down the hallway, but the point is to get moving. How many steps or how fast you walk doesn’t matter as much as the opportunity to stretch your legs and spend some time not sitting down. Given how sedentary office roles can be, we should take advantage of whatever opportunities we can to get up.
Share The Moment
While a moment of solitude can sometimes be precisely what you need, sometimes company can be restorative, as well. Having a moment to chat with someone, free from the pressure and constraints of work chatter, can reduce your stress hormones and improve your sense of emotional balance. Take the time to meet up with a friend, a family member, or even to hang out with a colleague, so long as it’s not about work. Talk should be light and low-stakes, not a vent session or a problem-solving meeting of the minds. Taking the time to check in, to make plans for the weekend, or to share a moment of laughter can do a lot more for your mood than spending that time alone, scrolling on your phone.
Rest With A Little Play
Allowing your mind to focus on something else for a moment can be great for giving yourself a mental reset. It can be highly effective if that something is simple, relaxed, and fun, like play. Opening up your phone for a game of Spider Solitaire, for instance, can take up your attention long enough to reduce the mental noise, without demanding too much urgency or emotional energy. Quieter games that you can play at your own pace are good for keeping you stimulated, but not too stimulated, and if you have to pause the game to get back to work, it’s not too big a deal. The perfect thing to fit into a short break.
Write Out The Rest Of The Day
For some people, journaling can be one of the most powerful ways to sort out all those thoughts that linger and gather throughout the day. While this can often involve writing down what’s in your mind, and thoughts on past events so that they don’t play in distracting loops, it can also be effective to write about what’s to come, as well. Writing down your remaining to-dos in a simple, undetailed list can help you lightly organize the rest of your day, while making sure that those tasks don’t weigh heavily on your thoughts going ahead. Writing down an itinerary for the day can also help you sort out your priorities a little more clearly, so you can focus on the things you need to do, not just the things you should get around to.
Try Some Simple Breathing Exercises
Sometimes, when the stress of the day has built up, you can carry it with you in your body. When you’re feeling physically tense, it’s also hard to relax mentally. Breathing exercises don’t have to be particularly complicated. Even a minute of slow and intentional breathing can help you reset your nervous system, flushing your stress response. Try this: inhale through your nose for four counts, hold for two, exhale slowly through your mouth for six. Repeat a few times while holding your coffee. The longer exhales can feel like a signal to your brain that you’re in a safe place, helping your body release the tension that comes with approaching that fight-or-flight mode.
Leave The Phone Behind
Not everyone can afford to be without their phone during the workday, but if you can, it can be one of the most powerful habits to take into your break. Even five minutes without your phone can strip away a whole layer of mental noise that’s with you for the rest of your day. If you’re always waiting for, or at least aware of, notifications and messages, then it can keep your brain in a greater state of readiness, which can make true rest a lot harder to accomplish. Having a phone-free coffee break can create a very valuable pocket of uninterrupted time to allow yourself to really be in the moment.
A coffee break can involve a lot more than a cup of coffee. It can help you re-energize and refocus, allowing you to be even more productive when you get to work. Think about which of the tools above might be the right ones for you.
