Health Benefits of Taking a Break During School

Sometimes people underestimate the power of a break and how well it can help you with concentration and relieving stress. By just taking a simple break your brain will be more relaxed and ready to work again.

Concentration is one of the most important things you need in school. If you are not focusing well you won’t be able to do your work in an efficient way. This is where breaks come in handy. Even having a short break of only five minutes will help a lot. The importance of having a break will help with concentration because you can have a moment of peace where you can calm down and get ready to work again. If you have a long class and you get sleepy, you won’t be able to focus in class and you will be more likely to fail a test. Teachers sometimes think that interrupting a class by a break will stop good thinking or make you less focused. But according to Dr. Danny Penman, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide To Finding Peace In A Frantic World, it is actually the opposite. Based on his research, Carolyn Gregoire of The Huffington Post writes in her article, “Mindfulness at Work: 5 Tricks for A Healthier, Less Stressful Day”, “There is evidence to support the idea that taking regular breaks during the workday can boost productivity and creativity” (Hills). So taking a break doesn’t waste class time, it actually makes your work time more productive.

Information is very important, but when it is just stuffed in your head, you will be more likely to forget the information. An 80-minute block is a long time to receive information, and often many students struggle to remember it all before their next block. Kimberly Elsbach, a management professor at the University of California at Davis, says that not taking a break “sort of exhausts your cognitive capacity and you’re not able to make the creative connections you can if your brain is more rested” (Hills). Students get stressed out if a lot of information is given to them with no break in between to process (Gregoire). Therefore, breaks to sit quietly and meditate will actually benefit both students and teachers overall.

In conclusion, taking a break is very important and will help you with completing your school work. Being mindful of your thoughts for a few minutes throughout the day will really help your productivity!

References:

Gregoire, Carolyn. “Mindfulness At Work: 5 Tricks For A Healthier, Less Stressful Work Day.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 June 2013, www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/mindfulness-at-work_n_3475045.html

Hills, Cheryl. “Health Benefits of Taking a Break.” TCM World, Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation, 2 Dec. 2015, www.tcmworld.org/health-benefits-of-taking-a-break/