Brain breaks: teaching students to maintain their brain health

Cognitive abilities for studying and accepting new knowledge vary from student to student. Each student also has their own learning strategies that help them study in the most effective way. However, even the most prepared and savvy students have moments when they find it difficult to focus or perceive new information. Quite often these moments can be explained by too intensive study period, where brains were used at their maximum capacity. Avoiding such overwhelming moments is not always possible, however adapting functioning strategies for releasing tension from brains is something that any students should learn to do. This article talks about the importance and practical implementation of brain breaks during contact and online lessons with university students.

Author: Olesia Kullberg

How we use our brains

If a brain worker is asked to describe their work, they would often mention it being interesting, varied, inspiring but at the same time demanding, challenging, intensive. “Flow” is also a word that is often used to describe a state of mind when a person is very focused, tuned in and productive. Being in the flow state always feels very rewarding, however it might force brains to perform at a high capacity for a long period of time. Even though this stage might feel productive, it can also lead to the state where employees feel extremely tired. A phenomenon where a very productive day is followed by unusually inefficient day at work might be familiar to many employees.

Looking from another perspective, eight-hour working day is a norm for most of the working places in Finland. The idea of an eight-hour working day is often perceived as the ability of an employee to work equally productively for eight hours in a row. However, according to brain research, our brains are not made for working eight hours with the same intensity (Moisala 2024). The contradiction of the existing idea of a working norm and the physical capacity of our brains is one of the reasons that lead many employees to sick leaves based on anxiety caused by too intensive use of their brains. Burnout is among the most common reasons for the sick leave in Finland (Kela 2025).

In the student interviews conducted in the 2digi2 project (2023) by the Learning Objectives working group, students point out that their studying is highly digital, which means long periods of independent study in front of one’s own computer. Independent study can take up to 90% of the total study time even for students completing their degrees on campus. As for lectures and practice lessons, the norm is 90-minute sessions followed by a 30-minute break. The interviews reveal that all students are aware that screen time should be reduced and limited and breaks should be taken, but the structure of the studies does not always allow this. (2digi2 2023)

What brains need: importance of breaks

As stated above, modern working life is often organized around the assumption that individuals can concentrate continuously, switch effortlessly between tasks, and maintain a stable level of productivity throughout the entire working day or week. However, Moisala (2024) argues that this assumption contradicts current brain research. Our brains are not designed for uninterrupted eight‑hour periods of intensive work. Research shows that the brain requires regular recovery in order to sustain performance. Recovery is not optional but an essential part of productive cognitive functioning: without breaks, efficiency declines and mental fatigue accumulates.

Moisala also stresses that individuals differ in how they function, yet the fundamental principle remains the same for everyone: the brain needs recurring moments of rest to work effectively. Although multitasking and staying in a flow state may appear productive and therefore discourage taking breaks, these practices can ultimately have detrimental effects on cognitive functioning and wellbeing. (Moisala 2024)

Practical implementation: brain breaks concept

The importance of short breaks is generally a familiar idea. However, not many individuals remember to keep regular breaks. On the other hand, when breaks are taken, the most common activity for spending the break is looking through the social media posts on a mobile phone, which in turn does not serve the purpose of providing a recovery moment for the brain.

To have students adapt the idea of recovery breaks during studies, regular breaks should be integrated into studying process and guided by the lecturers. The concept of “brain breaks” was tested in several implementations of both online and classroom lessons of English for work and English for professional development courses for LAB University of Applied Sciences and LUT students.

Brain break is a five-minute break that is held in the middle of each teaching session. The idea of the brain break, and its importance for brain health is first briefly introduced to students. Students are instructed to stand up and leave their phones. Each brain break contains instructions on how the following five minutes might be spent. Usually there are two or three options for students to choose from.

To encourage students to follow the recommendations provided for brain breaks a variety of activities is suggested. For example, during the first brain break the options are: eat a healthy snack (apples are brought in the classroom), do 20 squats, or go outside and take five deep breaths. Another brain break contains instructions on making an origami crab. One of the brain breaks encourages students to drink a glass of water or simply look through the window and observe.

Tested brain breaks received an extremely warm welcome from students. Both classroom and online students enjoyed the idea of having a break in the middle of the teaching session. Many students mentioned that they could focus much more on studying during the lessons with brain breaks. However, clear instructions on what to do and some push from the lecturer’s side is needed to demonstrate what an effective brain break actually is. Students might feel quite embarrassed to do 20 squats in a classroom, however once they are done, students feel immediate effect on their concentration and energy level.

To conclude, a short 5-minute brain break is always possible to organize during a teaching session. Various and engaging tips on how to spend the break help students see the scale of activities and choose the most functioning ones for future. Five minutes a day does not yet save the day, but if implemented in many teaching sessions, brain breaks start showing more like a strategy. Teaching students to keep regular and effective brain breaks is an attempt to teach them a functioning strategy for maintaining their brain health in their future working lives.

Sources

Kela. 2024. Kelan sairausvakuutustilasto 2024. 2025. Cited January 13 2026. Availabe at https://tietotarjotin.fi/tilasto/2856248/tilasto-sairauspaivarahoista

Moisala, M. 2024. Tyhmä työelämä. Kuinka pelastaa ajatustyöläisen aivot. Helsinki: Otava.

2digi2. 2023. Learning objectives. Cited January 17 2026. Available at https://2digi2.languages.fi/

Author

Olesia Kullberg is a Senior Lecturer at Language Centre of LAB University of Applied Sciences. Her expertise lies in professional communication and digital pedagogical solutions.

Illustration: https://pxhere.com/fi/photo/898975 (CC0)