The five-minute work habit that could boost your mood and performance

Tuesday, 30 June 2026

New research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests five-minute walking breaks every hour can improve workers' mood and reduce fatigue.

Taking walking breaks every 60 minutes produced the best balance between effectiveness and practicality for office workers' wellbeing.

Prolonged sitting can slow metabolism, reduce blood flow and weaken muscles according to previous research cited in the study.

A five-minute walk every hour could be enough to improve workers' mood and reduce fatigue without hurting productivity, new research suggests.

The study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found short bursts of movement helped offset prolonged sitting, with an hourly five-minute walk proving the most effective and practical option.

Researchers noted adults in high-income countries now spend 11 to 12 hours a day sitting – more than three-quarters of their waking day.

Previous studies have shown sitting for long periods can slow metabolism, reduce blood flow and weaken muscles.

Researchers at Columbia University analysed data from nearly 11,500 adults who completed a 21-day intervention. Participants came from a wide range of occupations, many of whom were office workers.

They were asked to go about their normal routine for the first week while logging their fatigue, mood and work engagement.

For the following two weeks, participants chose to take a five-minute walking break every 30, 60 or 120 minutes, while completing the same surveys.

The sweet spot was every 60 minutes, producing the best overall balance between effectiveness and practicality. Taking a break every 30 minutes led to greater improvements in mood and fatigue but was considered too disruptive to workflow, while breaks every two hours produced the smallest improvements.

Lead researcher Keith Diaz told BBC News workers' performance was actually helped by the breaks.

'Even though it may seem counter-intuitive, movement breaks actually can boost work performance,' said Diaz.

'They can improve executive function, attention and memory. And it helps people feel more relaxed and fresh.'

Dr Nicola Green, senior lecturer at Massey University’s College of Health, wasn’t surprised by the findings: “Short, frequent breaks are beneficial for human performance both from a physical and cognitive perspective.”

She was keen to see a study over a longer period and questioned whether participants continued taking movement breaks after the research ended.

“Many interventions have been developed or proposed for reducing sedentary behaviour at work e.g., sit-to-stand desks, walking breaks. However, in practice there are many barriers to sustaining behavioural change.

“For example, workflow, productivity pressures, time pressures, management support, organisational culture, workplace physical design and habits.”

Erika Clarry from Wellington-based workplace wellbeing organisation Umbrella agrees regular movement is a “low-cost, accessible strategy that can support both physical and psychological wellbeing”.

“However, the key is that workplaces need to make these behaviours genuinely possible. If someone is encouraged to take movement breaks but their diary is packed with back-to-back meetings, or there is an expectation of constant availability, it can be difficult to translate this into everyday practice.

“There's strong evidence from organisational psychology research that how work is designed, including workload, autonomy and leadership support, all play major roles in whether people feel able to take breaks and recover during the workday.”

The study had several limitations. Outcomes were self-reported, the intervention was short, and participants were predominantly white, female and highly educated, which may limit how widely the findings apply.

Still, the researchers concluded: 'Hourly breaks offered the best balance between feasibility and effectiveness. These findings support movement breaks as a potentially viable public health strategy to reduce the harms of prolonged sedentary behaviour.'