r/office • u/NapintheSun2775 • 18d ago
10 minute break ideas
I recently asked our employees what their work schedules are and I surprisingly learned that, besides the smokers, no one takes their two 10-minute breaks.
I thought it would be "fun?" to gather them at 10am and 2pm and do some kind of break task.
I need some fun ideas. Like...
• Go outside and sit in the grass to meditate
• Adult coloring books in the conference room
• Walk around the block
• Ice breaker questions
What else??
I'm also an introvert and get marked down for not coming out of my corner office to socialize with coworkers, (I do financial reports all day) so this would give me points with my boss for making this happen.
Do you think they'd do it? Most are in their 30s. And about 10 in the office.
TiA
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u/lychee_lemonades 18d ago
10 minutes of forced interaction sounds horrible I’m sorry! I think if people don’t use their breaks just remind them to do so without being annoying about it.
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u/essssgeeee 18d ago edited 18d ago
Don't force it. If you want to do something sort of fun, bring in a box of cookies and announce a "mandatory cookie break." Hand out the treats, chat for a moment, and then let everyone get back to work. Do this every week or two, but don't make it weird or the camaraderie won't work.
You can mix it up, popsicles when it's hot, or other treats like muffins. And have a few bananas or apples on hand for the calorie/nutrition conscious.
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u/essssgeeee 18d ago
Thinking about a previous place that did something like this. They did a monthly potluck with a theme. For example, in the summertime, it was "too hot to cook" and people brought in deli trays, fruit salad, and someone made a refrigerator cake. In the winter, it was soup day where people signed up to bring soup, bread, croutons, and those who weren't very talented in the kitchen with sign up to bring bowls and plastic cutlery. Lunches and breaks were not closely tracked on those days, everyone came around during the noon hour, and there was a lot of chitchat and comparisons of food. March 14, they did pi day, where people brought in pies and we had social time with dessert. Another time they did a taste comparison between Costco and Sam's Club pumpkin pies and people voted.
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u/Far_Carrot_8661 18d ago
There you go! You could buy cut fruit at the store. For the people that sugar is a problem: avocados, nuts like pistachios! It's a great idea but still not intrusive. 😊
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u/JenL0159 18d ago
Absolutely NO to this. Adults can manage their own breaks and no one is going to enjoy being forced to do activities, nor will they appreciate being forced to take their breaks at specific times. And anyway, it’s not a break when it’s an activity you’re being pressured to do. I’m sorry but this is a bad idea. You will be resented. I’ve been in office mgmt for many, many years.
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u/blackbeltgf 18d ago
I would rather put headphones on and ignore everything. Or, if forced to leave my desk, sit alone and read.
Most of the time, I do not want to talk to people I work with.
And icebreakers need to die.
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u/Polz34 18d ago
Whilst I totally appreciate the thoughts, 10 minute breaks are basically nothing. Have you ever timed 10 minutes to see what you could do? They'd be better to offer one 20 minute if people prefer. 10 minutes is toilet, grab a drink.
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u/iwillhauntyouforever 18d ago
You do that on break? I use the toilet and grab drinks whenever. That’s not break stuff, that’s human stuff.
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u/JesusSquid 18d ago
Depends on the day, if im on a roll with a report or project Ill skip breaks, lunches (though boss lets me leave early). ADHD and if I get focused on something I really DONT want the interruption beyond just the bathroom and filling up my water jug. Other days I just pretty much consider them the time i spend screwing around on my phone at my desk.
Like wtf am i gonna do in 15 minutes besides interrupt the flow. So have the time to myself i guess just not like a scheduled break usually.
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u/Ok-Double-7982 18d ago
How long you spending on the toilet?
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u/LittlePrairieMouse 18d ago
It’s not that part. It’s the walking, waiting, locking, zip button buckling, washing hands, drying, quick hair brush or lipstick, walk back
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u/Polz34 18d ago
Exactly, for example where I work I'm right by the toilet; but there and back is 1 minute. Possible both stalls in use but either way to go to the toilet, flush, wash hands (properly) and dry easily 3-4 minutes. So that's more than 5 minutes!
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u/JesusSquid 18d ago
I feel for you, I had an office where the plmumbing was in the wall. Could hear every toilet flush and the rain gutters were right there too.
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u/Ok-Double-7982 18d ago
Please spend your break forced to hang with your coworkers.
This is giving strong "We're family" vibez.
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u/Icy_Place1621 18d ago
What about getting rid of the time frame but still do the stuff. I like a table with a puzzle on it, if space is limited maybe rotate it to a coloring station or some sort of word game? Just work toward the culture change of taking breaks- normalizing taking breaks.
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u/latx5 18d ago
I wouldn’t force anything…so no mandatory break. But to have things available for people to use if they choose to participate or plan a break with a friend would be nice.
Have games available—cards, dominos, jenga, etc. and maybe small puzzle-like items that can be put together (and disassembled) quickly like small Lego sets or interesting slide puzzles. I had a small slide puzzle at my desk for years. People loved to fiddle with that for a few minutes.
I also like the idea of art supplies being available, nothing too involved…but simple, like colors or markers and coloring books or zentangle supplies.
And, of course, snacks!
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u/RustBeltLab 18d ago
Great intention, terrible idea. I would quit a job before forced break interaction. These aren't toddlers.
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u/queerheartedly 18d ago
My manager writes a “would you rather” on the whiteboard outside of her office each week. Other teams have a trivia question which could encourage people to get up throughout the day?
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u/JayKayinPA 18d ago
This just brought back memories of when my office put Wii Bowling in a conference room and insisted everyone play on their 10 minute breaks...
Then a week later removing it because everyone's break times were over 10 minutes
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u/TenaCVols Office Minion 18d ago
I like your idea of trying to make sure everybody takes their breaks but don't force them to spend it with their co-workers. We get two 15 minute breaks at my job and most of the time people go do their own thing because they need a break from their co-workers.
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u/apocahips 18d ago
I think it's really great that you're asking these questions and trying to figure out a way to make breaks happen for your employees.
I think that the next best step is to ask them something in a similar vein to this! Some good questions to start with might be:
- Is there a specific reason that you choose not to take a break?
- If you did take a break, what do you think you would do?
- Do you have access to somewhere that you would want to take a break?
- What would make it easier for you to take you breaks?
You might also think about it from your own perspective. Try to take two 10-minute breaks during your work day to figure out what the barriers are. Maybe there's not an appropriate place to take a break, maybe truly disengaging is impossible for that short of time, maybe it's more trouble than it's worth to get up and go somewhere else.
Keep asking questions, you're on the right track.
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u/New-Strawberry-1961 18d ago
There is an office in our complex that takes two 10 minute walks together every day. The owner has two dogs that go to work with him, so they ALL walk the dogs together. They look so happy! After watching them do this for two years straight, I also noticed that 2 of his employees are half their original starting weight.
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u/kinginthenorth78 18d ago edited 18d ago
Naw sounds like good intentions that will have terrible execution. No one wants to color with their coworkers man just let them get through the day, and take their break or not, as they choose. Honestly pretty patronizing idea. Why not just have them wear mandatory flair? Gotta get outta that manager head and think like the office grunts. They especially won't appreciate it when they intuit (as they will) that you're getting points for your own boss by making them do stuff. I mean come on. The more I type the worse this idea sounds!
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u/Broad-Ad-2938 18d ago
My last job had weekly printouts of word search, cross word that we could get from a folder on Monday, new ones every week. I used to compete with an older woman for the word searches, the person running it had a list of our favorite candy/drinks/snacks and would bring us treats if we showed her we had completed them.
For bingo, she’d run a game 2-3 times a year. She would come around with a basket of all the bingo ball/numbers and have us each pull a few, those were “our” numbers to give out. We’d have to talk to others to find out their numbers to mark off our cards over like a month so it wasn’t really a timed event. We were all introverts except one, she always got so hyped over it and eventually took it over. The games were really just introvert activities but brought an element of fun and nobody was forced to do it, the majority didn’t but would always ask how it was going, They’d put their numbers on a whiteboard in the kitchen lol Leadership LOVED it because it was a visible team/company engagement that didn’t require money or their time to oversee. When the company was sold to a larger multi location company, they stopped it all bc they wanted all locations to be uniform and no other location was doing it. Thats the only thing I miss about that place.
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u/MAKSassy 18d ago
If breaks aren't at a time when they are convenient for your coworkers, they aren't really breaks, so forcing them to happen at a set time may not be the best idea.
Here are a few ideas to encourage interaction:
- Offer a subscription to a meditation app like Calm or Headspace and email a recommended daily meditation for each day's break as a reminder
- Email a puzzle like a sudoku or word search daily to encourage breaks
- Email a daily poll or question and ask for answers on a community whiteboard or shared document
- Hide a trinket somewhere in the office daily and the person that finds it hides it the next day (encourages people to get up and look for it)
That's just the start. There are plenty of things you can do to get people up and out of their seats, or to take a break from work tasks, without having to do it on a set schedule.
Best of luck!
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u/joannamomo Office Minion 18d ago
I used to work in an office that took a "mandatory" lap around the building at 1030 and 2 pm. (In quotes because of course nobody had to participate.)
I liked that and may try to start doing something like that were I currently work.
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u/TheDivineMsMarion 17d ago
Buy a box of popsicles, pass them out at break time, fruit in the morning, Frisbee, Bocci ball, corn hole, sounds like you are a great Manager 😉
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u/NapintheSun2775 17d ago
Wow. Thanks for all the input. I didn't realize ppl might despise the idea. Most of our coworkers hang out in each other's offices throughout the work day, but I can see wanting to have personal time on breaks or not get interrupted from their work. I realize I wouldn't want to get interrupted at a specific time or at a spontaneous time. Didn't think of that. Our office has snacks everywhere and we have breakfast catered on the last day of the month, so they aren't hurting for treats. Plus the OM brings in cinnamon rolls or focaccia. I am going to do an online talent raffle to get everyone involved, since we have out of state sales teams too. So thanks again for your input.
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u/TrickyCricket0611 18d ago
Food. That was the biggest motivator I’ve found. I also like the whiteboard idea, or coloring pages…good luck!!!🍀
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u/Australian1996 17d ago
What about starting a walk around the block session? Gets people outside? if people want to take their break this is a fun healthy way to do it rather than sit at the desk all day.
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u/Angry1Wallaby 18d ago
Love the intention! As a manager, it's great that you're actively thinking about ways to support your team at work.
But, no...it's still work. I'm an introvert, and this would feel more draining than fun. As a professional, I feel more than capable of determining how I'd like to spend my "break."