- This sounds a bit Native American-tee-like, but better breaks lead to better decisions, says Pia Hauge, author of the new book "Pause Power".
Breaks are important, but there is actually another point first.
- The most important thing for our mental health is to get enough and good sleep, and then there are the breaks, says Pia Hauge and takes a swipe at micro breaks:
- Get up and stand up, and stretch your arms in the air as far as you can.
- Did you know that breaks recharge the cognitive battery that you use to innovate? she asks – and it is probably not entirely coincidental that she is speaking precisely after Energy Cluster Denmark's selection of the Innovation Project of the Year 2024, the underwater robot Acomar.
Thinking is most important
That most of the 250 participants in the annual meeting often, often and almost all the time have their heads in a screen in everyday life also quickly becomes clear.
- The most important thing is not your computers. The most important thing is your thinking, so you should ask yourself if there is an opportunity to give your brain a break. The smart way to do things is to do one thing at a time, says the author and asks a question:
- How many of you turn off Teams, the phone, email and everything else when you work?
Three listeners out of 250 people in the room raise their hands.
- You can just see that, says Pia Hauge.
She also has figures for the negative side effects of our lack of breaks and multitasking.
- 22 percent of us are very tired at work, and seven times as much energy drink is sold today as in 2010, according to figures I have received from COOP, she explains.
Our working life also means that we consume painkillers, says Pia Hauge.
- Every Dane consumes an average of 187 Panodiler per year. We pull them off the shelf so we are ready for the next working week, she says and makes two specific suggestions:
- Don't use your mobile phone in the toilet, and do one thing at a time.
Do as Green Power Denmark
Taking breaks is also something that Green Power Denmark has adopted.
- Is Jan Hylleberg here? says Pia Hauge, but Jan Hylleberg doesn't seem to have arrived yet, even though he is going on stage later in the day.
- Green Power Denmark has introduced a requirement that you must walk for 30 minutes during working hours twice a week. And you have to do this with a new colleague every time, she says, and gives the output of it:
- Then efficiency increases by five percent.
She also makes it clear that the breaks are in addition to the lunch break.
- When you take a break, you become better at going to work. But you are afraid that the boss will think you are truant, she says, and returns to the innovation:
- Happy people have more good ideas. Breaks are not just for the weak and the slendrian types, says Pia Hauge.
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