Top Time Tip #109
Is Your Company's Policy on Tea Breaks Costing You Money?
4th September 2008
Hello
The last issue on listening to our body got some great comments, some of which you'll find posted on our discussion board. (Do feel free to add your own observations.)
So, following that theme, here's an article I wrote recently for the Employers and Manufacturers member magazine in New Zealand. If you'd like an article for your trade association or corporate magazine, just ask. I'll be delighted to assist.
Tea Breaks are Good Business
I was fascinated to read recently that there's concern in some quarters because the New Zealand Government might 'force' employers to give rest breaks.
What I can't fathom is why employers would need to be 'forced'! Perhaps they and many of their employees don't know about the health and productivity gains we all get from regular breaks in our daily routine.
Earlier this year I worked with people in Holland, England and Dubai as well as lawyers, educators, managers in the food industry and many other individuals from around New Zealand and Australia - mainly face-to-face and now also via tele-seminars. Because 'sanity breaks' are part of my message I almost always ask my audiences if they take a regular lunch break, and how many take tea breaks - not just the 'grab a cuppa and take it back to the desk' kind of tea break, but a real one where they give their brain a rest - away from their desk. Typically more than 70% of the room tell me they don't do either on a regular basis. The next questions are 'how effective are you in the afternoon?' and 'how tired are you at the end of the day?' The look on most people's faces is classic - a kind of bemused 'why didn't I notice that connection before?'
The cost is not having a tea break
Yes, there is a direct correlation between a tiring and less productive afternoon and no real 'brain breaks'.
Here's the explanation. Various biological rhythms flow through our body all day, all night. Ultradian rhythms are just one sort. Loosely translated ultra = many and dian = day - the many rhythms of the day. They cycle continuously through our body like rolling waves - 90 - 120 minutes up; 20 minutes down - repeated day and night.
The down cycle is not a negative thing - instead it's the rest cycle that our body needs to recharge, rebuild and to grow. If we keep pushing through these down cycles, if we don't give our body a chance to recharge, we push the poor old thing into flight or fight. The consequence? You already know. Stress, burnout, and eventually sickness.
Almost everyone I've challenged on this has agreed that they become less effective in the afternoon if they keep pushing on. They end up dragging their weary bodies home at the end of the day - not much use to themselves or loving family waiting for their share of time. Nor much use to their employer.
So what to do about it? Morning and afternoon tea breaks and a lunch break away from your desk - they're some of the simple solutions. Winston Churchill was famous for his power naps that kept him operating at full steam through all those tough war years?
'But I work in a corporate environment and can't take a nap', you might be saying. Really? If you can show your employer or colleagues the benefits they reap from your increased effectiveness in the afternoon, you might be surprised how much support you get. Work out how much it actually costs for a 50% reduction in output or a 10% increase in mistakes?
In many countries people nap after lunch either at their desks or in special nap rooms. And what about the famous continental siesta? Do a Google for 'power naps' - here's a couple of links:
http://www.cbsnews.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk
A young accountant in a large Auckland office, with full knowledge of his colleagues, often takes a 20 minute nap at his desk in the early afternoon. If he's really tired he even shuts the door and lies down on the floor. After about 20 minutes he comes to, feels a little dozy for a couple of minutes, and then he's away - operating at top efficiency for the rest of the day. I often do this when I'm not feeling productive and my colleague Andy used to take a quick nap when he worked for a major corporate.
If you don't have an office, go to your car, maybe a sick room, or perhaps there's a quiet room you can use. Apparently PriceWaterhouseCoopers in London now have quiet rooms which their employees can use as they choose (as long as there's no talking), and I know of other companies who make it 'ok' for staff to leave their desks to refresh and revitalise. After all, that's what smokers do several times a day, every day! (But no, I'm not suggesting we all go back to smoking!)
Signs that you need an Ultradian break? You'll know them - things like tiredness, yawning, irritability, mistakes (especially when you're at a keyboard), thirsty, unfocused, and sometimes aching parts - often the back.
And it might not be as lateral as a nap - you might just need to get out of your office, into the fresh air or off for exercise at the gym in order to recharge. 'Just move, move it, move it', as they say in 'Madagascar'. (The benefit of grandchildren - I've got the lines!)
Employers - don't wait for the government to force you to be more profitable and have happier staff. Get the benefit now!
Now, where was that friendly sofa?
Here's to living life with joy and energy instead of just existing.
© All Rights Reserved to Robyn Pearce, GettingAGrip.com. Admin Office: PO Box 29 586, Fendalton, Christchurch 8540, New Zealand
Ph. + 64 3 351 2140 http://www.gettingagrip.com
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