Latest news with #breaks
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
You're organising your time wrong! Scientists reveal the secret to productivity - and why you should be taking LONGER breaks
Whether you work at home or in an office, it can be difficult to know the best way to organise your time. But help is at hand, as experts from DeskTime have revealed the secret to productivity. And the good news is that it involves taking more regular breaks than you're probably used to. According to their research, the most productive employees operate on a '75/33 work-to-rest-cycle'. This means they work for 75 minutes, and then rest for 33 minutes. This cycle is best suited to in-office work than fully-remote work, according to Artis Rozentals, CEO at DeskTime. 'Our latest productivity research shows we're returning to more balanced working habits,' he said. 'Knowing the prevalence of hybrid work, the new 75/33 ratio may be linked to working in-office again.' To understand the secret to a productive work day, the researchers analysed the working habits of 6,000 DeskTime users from January - December 2024. Their analysis found that the most productive users worked in 75-minute chunks of time, before taking a proper 33-minute rest. DeskTime has carried out the same study twice before in 2014 and 2021 - and found very different results. In 2014, the study found that the most productive people worked on average 52 minutes, followed by a 17-minute break. Seven years later, in 2021, the study found that a 112/26 work-to-rest-cycle was most productive. 'When DeskTime conducted the work/break ratio study back in 2021, we saw that working from home had immensely impacted workers' ability to draw a line between work and life,' Mr Rozentals said. Based on the findings, the CEO believes that workers are most productive in an office environment. 'Working from the office, we're naturally prone to taking more breaks – getting coffee, talking to co-workers, etc,' he added. 'While these interruptions may seem unproductive at first, they're vital for mental rejuvenation and contribute to employee wellbeing. 'Plus, it provides us with the necessary social dynamic of a workplace.' The study comes shortly after researchers at Canada's McGill University revealed what a normal day looks like for people across 58 countries. It found that 3.4 hours are spent making, cultivating and taking care of stuff every day, while 2.5 hours are spent on hygiene. 'We found that the single largest chunk of time is really focused on humans ourselves, a little more than nine hours,' explained the study's author, Eric Galbraith. 'Most of this—about 6.5 hours—is doing things that we enjoy, like hanging out, watching TV, socializing and doing sports.' Exposure to blue light from phones and computer screens 'makes it harder to fall asleep' Leading Optometrist, Dhruvin Patel is a specialist in the impact of blue light on eye health - that is light produced by phone and computer screens. Researchers say exposure to blue light could increase the risk of damage to eyesight and make it harder to fall asleep. Patel shared his tips for minimising the impact from blue light while working from home or using screens. 1. Work an arm's length from the screen Fully extend your arm and work from a distance - looking from your eyes to the end of your fingertips. Use this as a minimum distance to reduce the stress on your eyeballs. 2. 20/20/20 Simply put, every 20 minutes, look away from the screen for a minimum of 20 seconds at least 20 feet away. This will help to reset your visual systems and eye through any long periods of screen work. 3. Screen height Height and level of your working screen can have a big impact on eye strain. Research has shown that it is better for the screen to be located higher than the users' watching level - the middle point should be 5-6 inches below the straight line of the users' vision. This makes the space between upper and lower eyelid more open, often resulting in dryness of the eyes. 4. Lighting Position the computer screen to avoid glare, particularly from overhead lighting or windows. Use blinds or drapes on windows and replace the light bulbs in desk lamps with bulbs of lower wattage and intensity. If there is no way to minimise glare from light sources, consider using an anti glare filter. 5. Put a post-it note on your screen titled 'BLINK'. Normally, in a minute, we blink up to 20 times. This is controlled automatically by our central nervous systems so we're not conscious of blinking. While on screens, this is actually reduced to 3-5 times a minute meaning our tear films cannot be maintained and the eye does not remain lubricated. A post-it-note on your monitor saying 'Blink' should help you consciously make an effort to blink. It's simple but definitely works. 6) Consider your device Usually the biggest, newest phone is best, but not for your eyes. An iPhone X is 20 per cent brighter than an iPhone 6 and emits higher levels of blue light. This is the difference of a 100 per cent increase in harmful blue light exposure! 7. Remember to switch off I would suggest no digital devices or artificial lighting after sunset. If you're like most people, you're probably sending that last minute email or finishing your favourite show on Netflix before bed. Try reading a book or start that meditation that you promised yourself you will do in the new year. Dhruvin Patel says you shouldn't assume that 'night mode' or 'blue shade' on devices is enough to counter the impact of blue light. He said this 'has been proven to not aid sleep compared to a screen's normal output' and so even with it enabled you should still avoid the screen after sunset if at all possible. Patel founded a company called Ocushield that produces screen protectors to filter out blue light based on his research into the impact of the light source.
The Verge
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Verge
the time, so I relate to the anxiety described in this
The dark side of wearable tech. I wear three to five wearables all New York Times article. Managing it is a huge part of my job, which is why I wrote this how-to with a lot of my tips and tricks. And as I've said on many a Vergecast episode, I purposefully break streaks to preserve my mental health. Friendly reminder from your neighborhood wearables expert: you are allowed to take breaks.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Employment expert on health staff told no more than five minutes of talking
health employment 12:17 pm today Some Southland Hospital staff have been told they could only talk to each other for no more than five minutes a day. The staff were also instructed not to take their breaks together, according to complaints to the PSA union released under the Official Information Act. The complaints arose among staff at Southern Clinical Records and Coding. Hesketh Henry employment law specialist Alison Maelzer spoke to Charlotte Cook.
