For employees, taking scheduled breaks throughout the day is important for attention, well-being and productivity. Sometimes, however, the lunch break seems too far away. How then, do you provide your brain with a little pick me up so you can keep going? Our new research suggests a “green micro-break” may provide just the boost you and your work-weary brain need.

1. Green Micro Breaks
Human Resource Management

2. Prepared By
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Manu Melwin Joy
Assistant Professor
Ilahia School of Management Studies
Kerala, India.
Phone – 9744551114
Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com

3. Green Micro Breaks
• Most of us know firsthand
that spending time in
nature can make us feel
better. This isn’t just a
placebo effect: decades of
research show that seeing
vegetation, water, light,
and animals is linked with
many psychological
benefits.

4. Green Micro Breaks
• Evidence suggests that viewing
nature can also help improve
attention spans. Being able to
maintain our attention to
concentrate on tasks and ignore
distractions is important for
everyday life. At work, better
concentration helps us stay on
track, attend to important
information, block out distracting
email alerts and chatting
colleagues, work more efficiently,
and maintain performance across
the day.

5. Green Micro Breaks
• For employees, taking scheduled
breaks throughout the day is
important for attention, well-
being and productivity.
Sometimes, however, the lunch
break seems too far away. How
then, do you provide your brain
with a little pick me up so you
can keep going? Our new
research suggests a “green
micro-break” may provide just
the boost you and your work-
weary brain need.

6. Testing ‘micro-breaks’
• We set out to uncover
whether a short 40-second
break viewing a city green
roof could boost attention.
Green roofs are an
increasingly common way of
introducing more nature into
cities and normally consist of
low-growing plants in
lightweight, thin soil-like
mixes that sit over drainage
layers on a building rooftop.

7. Testing ‘micro-breaks’
• Our experiment used a
neuropsychology test called the
“Sustained Attention to Response Task”
(SART). Participants had to work at a
computer and respond correctly to
numbers flashing up on the screen. Each
time a number flashed up, they had to
press a key unless, that is, that number
was “3”. For the number “3”,
participants had to refrain from pressing
a key. The test is not very hard, but it is
boring, and you have to really pay
attention to perform well.

8. Testing ‘micro-breaks’
• Once the 150 participants became tired
from the SART, we gave them a 40
second micro-break. During the micro-
break each participant saw a city scene
on the computer. The scene was a view
from a city high rise but with one
difference: half the participants saw a
normal concrete roof, while the other
half saw a flowering meadow green
roof. After the micro-break, participants
performed the SART again and we
compared the performance between
the two groups.

10. Testing ‘micro-breaks’
• After the break participants
who saw the green roof
performed better than
those who saw the
concrete roof. That is, they
made fewer errors on the
task and showed steadier
response patterns towards
the flashing numbers.

12. Testing ‘micro-breaks’
• Observing steadier responses in
participants who saw the green roof is
quite important. Changes in attention
can be analysed by breaking down each
person’s response patterns into two
parts: “quick changes” in responding
and “gradual changes” in responding.
Steadier quick changes in responding
suggests fewer brief attention “slips”
during the task and better attention
control. Steadier gradual changes in
responding suggests consistent levels of
alertness across the task.

13. Testing ‘micro-breaks’
• In our study, participants
who saw the green roof
showed fewer attention slips
and as a result, better
attention control. Compared
with their concrete roof
counterparts, they also
showed more consistent
alertness after the green roof
micro-break.

14. Healthier workplaces and cities
• For decades researchers have
wondered whether brief
glimpses of nature could
boost attention. Until now
though, they have only found
these benefits in studies
where participants were
exposed to nature for longer
periods of time – at least
minutes, and often hours.

15. Healthier workplaces and cities
• Our multidisciplinary team used theory
and methods from environmental
psychology, neuropsychology,
organisational psychology, and
horticulture to uncover new insights on
the benefits of urban nature. As a result
we uncovered attention benefits after a
40 second micro-break with a flowering
meadow green roof view. For office
workers, this suggests that “green
micro-breaks” can provide a simple and
effective strategy for boosting attention
between longer breaks.

16. Healthier workplaces and cities
• Importantly, our study shows
attention benefits after
seeing a city green roof. Most
research on the benefits of
nature has used lush and tall
nature, particularly forests,
woodlands, and parks. The
green roof we showed
participants was realistic,
using low growing plants that
could survive on an irrigated
roof.

17. Healthier workplaces and cities
• Our research demonstrates that
even a modest area of flowering
meadow can boost attention.
For urban planners and
developers, our results are yet
another incentive to add more
plants into our cities and
workplaces, to provide real
benefits for people by creating
healthy, productive and liveable
spaces. Green roofs are a
practical solution for high
density cities.