g-stockstudio via Getty Images A new study finds that efficient workday breaks can include simply doing something enjoyable. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 Do you count walking to the office bathroom as taking a break? What about keeping one eye on your email while checking the News feed on your cell phone with the other? Or eating a sad-looking salad at your desk for lunch? 
 
 If you answered yes to any of those questions, your workday needs a serious upgrade. 
 
 Many of us don't take any breaks at work -- roughly 80 percent of U.S. employees don't even take a lunch break -- and when we do, we're often going about them the wrong way. 
 
 In a new study, researchers from Baylor University found, our health, productivity and job satisfaction can suffer when we don't make good use of the time we take to step away from work-related activities. 
 
 For the study, researchers asked 95 employees to record all the breaks they took over the course of a workweek, which added up to a total of 959 breaks, or an average of two breaks per person each day. 
 
 These breaks consisted of any period of time during which employees disengaged from work-related tasks, from an hour-long lunch with coworkers to a few minutes spent checking personal email -- they did not, however, include bathroom breaks. Afterwards, the employees were asked questions about their productivity and well-being. 
 
 "We took some of our layperson hypotheses about what we believed were helpful in a break and tested those empirically in the best way possible," Dr. Emily Hunter, one of the study's authors, said in a statement. "What we found was that a better workday break was not composed of many of the things we believed. " 
 
 Contrary to popular belief, you don't necessarily need to go outside or even leave your desk Hunter said. 
 
 Using the responses from the employees the researchers were able to identify which types of breaks tend to leave people feeling the most refreshed -- and it's not necessarily what you might think (or what you're already doing). 
 
 Here are the three best ways to maximize your workday break: 
 
 Take your first one in the morning. While most employees who were part of the study worked through the morning, pausing for breaks at lunch and maybe once again in the afternoon, the researchers found that the later in the day that people took breaks, the more likely they were to report poor focus, fatigue and headaches. 
 
 The best time to take a break is actually mid-morning, before feelings of depletion set in. These early breaks were more effective in replenishing cognitive resources like energy, focus and motivation. 
 
 "You should pace yourself, similar to how plants should be watered early in the day before getting distressed from a long day in the sun," Hunter told The Huffington Post in an email. 
 
 Keep them relatively short, and take them often. Taking more frequent, shorter breaks seemed to be more effective in boosting productivity and warding off fatigue than taking fewer, longer breaks. 
 
 While the researchers weren't able to determine the optimum length of time for a work break, other research has suggested that as little as five minutes can increase energy levels and productivity. 
 
 The idea here is that you're preventing yourself from getting too exhausted, instead of taking time to recover after you've already worn yourself out. 
 
 "Popular wisdom dictates that you should let your cell phone battery deplete to 0% before charging it, but you are not your phone," Hunter said. "Instead, our research finds you should charge yourself more frequently, taking a break from work before your energy depletes to 0%." 
 
 Do something that makes you happy. It doesn't really matter what you do as long as it's something that you truly enjoy doing -- even if it's a work-related passion project. What does that mean? No running errands or paying bills. 
 
 "Preferred activities are more refreshing because they provide a feeling of autonomy and control, they are enjoyable, and they don’t require additional resource expenditure," Hunter said. ||||| WACO, Texas (Sept. 9, 2015) - Most people take breaks during their workdays. Coffee breaks. Lunch breaks. Short chats with coworkers. Maybe late afternoon walks around the building. 
 
 But are they taking the best type of breaks? Breaks that boost energy, concentration and motivation? 
 
 Two Baylor University researchers have published a new empirical study - "Give Me a Better Break: Choosing Workday Break Activities to Maximize Resource Recovery" - in the Journal of Applied Psychology. The research provides a greater understanding of workday breaks and offers suggestions on when, where and how to plan the most beneficial daily escapes from the J-O-B. The research also debunks some common break-time myths. 
 
 Emily Hunter, Ph.D., and Cindy Wu, Ph.D., associate professors of management in Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, surveyed 95 employees (ages 22-67) over a five-day workweek, and each person was asked to document each break they took during that time. Breaks were defined as "any period of time, formal or informal, during the workday in which work-relevant tasks are not required or expected, including but not limited to a break for lunch, coffee, personal email or socializing with coworkers, not including bathroom breaks." 
 
 Hunter and Wu chronicled and analyzed a total of 959 break surveys - an average of two breaks per person per day. They say the results of the study benefit both managers and employees. 
 
 "We took some of our layperson hypotheses about what we believed were helpful in a break and tested those empirically in the best way possible," Hunter said. "This is a strong study design with strong analyses to test those hypotheses. What we found was that a better workday break was not composed of many of the things we believed. " 
 
 Key findings of the study include: 
 
 1. The most beneficial time to take a workday break is mid-morning. 
 
 Hunter and Wu found that rather than the typical culture of working hard all morning only to take a lunch-hour or mid-afternoon break, a respite earlier in the workday replenishes more resources - energy, concentration and motivation. 
 
 "We found that when more hours had elapsed since the beginning of the work shift, fewer resources and more symptoms of poor health were reported after a break," the study says. "Therefore, breaks later in the day seem to be less effective." 
 
 2. "Better breaks" incorporate activities that employees prefer. 
 
 A common belief exists that doing things that are non-work-related are more beneficial, Hunter explained. Based on the study, there was no evidence to prove that non-work-related activities were more beneficial. 
 
 Simply put, preferred break activities are things you choose to do and things you like to do. These could also include work-related tasks. 
 
 "Finding something on your break that you prefer to do - something that's not given to you or assigned to you - are the kinds of activities that are going to make your breaks much more restful, provide better recovery and help you come back to work stronger," Hunter said. 
 
 3. People who take "better breaks" experience better health and increased job satisfaction. 
 
 The employee surveys showed that recovery of resources - energy, concentration and motivation - following a "better break" (earlier in the day, doing things they preferred) led workers to experience less somatic symptoms, including headache, eyestrain and lower back pain after the break. 
 
 These employees also experienced increased job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior as well as a decrease in emotional exhaustion (burnout), the study shows. 
 
 4. Longer breaks are good, but it's beneficial to take frequent short breaks. 
 
 While the study was unable to pinpoint an exact length of time for a better workday break (15 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.), the research found that more short breaks were associated with higher resources, suggesting that employees should be encouraged to take more frequent short breaks to facilitate recovery. 
 
 "Unlike your cellphone, which popular wisdom tells us should be depleted to zero percent before you charge it fully to 100 percent, people instead need to charge more frequently throughout the day," Hunter said. 
 
 ### 
 
 ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY 
 
 Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference. 
 
 ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
– Did you just get caught taking a few minutes to update your fantasy football team or Instagram your lunch? Just tell your boss it's making you a better worker. Two researchers from Baylor University recently published a study after looking at the break habits of 95 workers to identify a better break. "What we found was that a better workday break was not composed of many of the things we believed," researcher Emily Hunter says in a press release. For example, it turns out, midmorning—not afternoon—is the best time for a break. "You should pace yourself, similar to how plants should be watered early in the day before getting distressed from a long day in the sun," Hunter tells the Huffington Post. Second, don't use the time to run errands. Breaks should be composed of an activity you enjoy—even, counterintuitively, if it's work-related. (Like some kind of "passion project," in the words of HuffPo.) Finally, the researchers found frequent, smaller breaks are ideal over a singular, longer break. "Unlike your cellphone, which popular wisdom tells us should be depleted to 0% before you charge it fully to 100%, people instead need to charge more frequently throughout the day," Hunter says. While they didn't identify an ideal break length, the Huffington Post reports previous studies have shown as little as five minutes away from work can improve productivity. By following their advice for better breaks, researchers say employees will experience less mental and physical burnout. (Others say a lunchtime walk will cure your work woes.)