One to two minute breaks work better than no break at all, especially if you step outside with someone and leave your phone behind. Nature exposure and social connection both boost mental clarity. A 10-minute walk with a colleague could add 0.1% to GDP if everyone did it.
And the design principles on breaks are: 1, something is better than nothing. It's a big deal. There's a whole line of research on micro-breaks, which are literally like 1 or 2 minute breaks. The effects of simply exposure to nature in replenishing your mental acuity, your mood, is impressive. Social beats solo. To my amazement, breaks with other people are more restorative than breaks on your own. And then, and this is also super important here, is fully detached beats semi-detached. That a break that is only partly detached is much closer to not having a break than it is to having a break. Like, if everybody took a 10-minute walk outside with someone they like every afternoon, talking about something other than work and leaving their phone behind, I mean, I seriously— Yeah. I think that's worth like 0.1% of GDP. Like, you could get a 1%— 0.1% GDP boost there. Yeah. I'm serious.
