20 Mar 2025

5 ways to normalise microbreaks in the workplace

Encouraging employees to take short breaks to reset and relieve stress throughout the workday may be more effective than encouraging them to take a vacation.

More than 70% of adults in the UK say they’ve felt so stressed that they’re overwhelmed or unable to cope.

Unaddressed stress can quickly lead to employee burnout, departures, and more stress for the team left behind. If you’re an HR manager or director trying to retain talent, that’s a huge concern.

In the battle to prevent burnout, encouraging employees to use their paid time off (PTO) - if available - might seem like the best place to start.

But a more effective strategy might be to normalise microbreaks throughout the day.

Vacations are not always the solution

Taking a chunk of time away from work can do wonders for the psyche but it also can create rather than alleviate stress for employees.

Worries about work piling up, emails going unanswered, or missed opportunities can weigh on workers while they’re off the job.

That might be why more than half (54%) of people continue to work while on vacation, according to one study.

Employees who successfully disconnect from work while on vacation often return to a stressful game of catch-up.

It’s not surprising that nearly a quarter of workers (24%) say the benefits of a vacation, such as feeling reinvigorated and less stressed, disappear upon returning to work, and 40% say those benefits last just a few days.

There is why introducing microbreaks as standard can help.

What’s a microbreak?

When feeling pressure to meet a deadline, employees can forgo breaks. If behavior turns into a pattern, stress builds and burnout follows.

Taking a break doesn’t necessarily mean stepping away for an hour-long lunch or even a 15-minute coffee break.

In fact, taking a microbreak - a break of just a few minutes or even less - not only helps to bring the stress hormones in our bodies back into balance but can benefit us in many other ways.

Studies have shown that:

Taking a break of 10 minutes or less can reduce fatigue, improve vigor and increase well-being.
Taking brief breaks from a task can dramatically improve one's ability to focus on that task for prolonged periods.
Just 2-3 minutes of light-intensity activity for every 30 minutes of sedentary work may reduce musculoskeletal discomfort, improve cardiometabolic markers, and help provide relief from workday stress and fatigue.
When doing computer-related work, taking a microbreak of about 30 seconds every 40 minutes may help to lower elevated heart rates, suggesting reduced levels of stress.

What do microbreaks look like?

Employees need to discover what works best for them.

This can be meditating for a minute or two, doing a 30-second breathing exercise, performing a few yoga stretches, taking a walk, looking out a window, or calling a coworker to catch up for 5 or 10 minutes.

When it’s time to take a mental health break

For employees who resist taking breaks, here are some common signs they can use to know it’s time to take one:

Mental fog: Struggling with basic tasks that typically feel easy
Constant tiredness: Fatigue that won't quit even with adequate sleep
Lack of focus: An inability to concentrate or recall information
Apathy: A loss of interest in and/or motivation for normal activities
Unhealthy eating: Skipping meals, emotional eating, or binging
Frequent illness: Headaches, upset stomach, and feeling run down
Irritability: Short fuses and strained personal relationships

5 ways to integrate microbreaks into the day

As a manager or HR leader, you can take steps to make it easier for employees to establish microbreaks as a standard part of their workday.

Here are five ideas to get you started:

1. Emphasize the benefits of microbreaks

Educate employees about the common signs they need a mental timeout. Emphasize how micro breaks can help them, from reducing stress to improving focus and increasing mental and physical well-being.

2. Offer easy-to-access tools

Support employees in taking breaks by making it easy for them to access tools for brief meditations, breathing exercises, movement and relaxation. Calm offers a wide variety of mindfulness programs and tools that employees can easily incorporate into their routines.

3. Lead by example

Adopt and share your own strategies for taking microbreaks throughout the day. Encourage employees to share their strategies, too.

4. Reserve 5 minutes for breaks between meetings

Encourage managers and employees to carve out 5-minute gaps between meetings to allow everyone to slow down, be present in the moment, and realign the body and mind. Scheduling 25-minute and 55-minute meetings will enable employees to reset before the next meeting and help prevent stress from building.

5. Integrate moments of mindfulness into meetings

Ask leaders and managers to begin or close meetings with a moment of mindfulness and watch it catch on. They can kick start a meeting with a breathing exercise, for example, or close a meeting with a 60-second meditation. With the right tools, integrating mindfulness breaks into meetings is simple.

Mental health breaks are on employee wish lists

Calm’s survey of 4,000+ workers showed that employees want more mental health benefits from their employers.

Mental health days are at the top of the list, followed by mental health breaks during the workday and digital tools to help them manage stress, burnout, and anxiety.

Normalizing microbreaks is an easy way to get started and can pave the way to a healthier, happier workplace culture.