Your Brain Needs Breaks
Why and How to Shorten the Meetings and Make Time for Breaks?
This week I was in back-to-back meetings and I’m feeling really tired.
I think we all have such days or weeks; one conversation ends, another begins, and too often there’s no chance to stretch, have lunch properly, pour a glass of water, or just clear your head.
Microsoft’s Human Factors Lab conducted research to find a solution for meeting fatigue — a pressing concern in our new era of remote and hybrid work.
The research showed three main takeaways.
1. Breaks between meetings allow the brain to “reset,” reducing a cumulative buildup of stress across meetings.
In two straight hours of back-to-back meetings, the average activity of beta waves, associated with stress increased over time. In other words, the stress kept accumulating.
2. Back-to-back meetings can decrease your ability to focus and engage.
When participants had meditation breaks, brainwave patterns showed positive levels of frontal alpha asymmetry, which correlates to higher engagement during the meeting.
3. Transitioning between meetings can be a source of high stress.
For the participants deprived of breaks, researchers also noticed…
