The Impact Of Weekly Walking Breaks On Work Performance And Wellbeing

Chapter One

Walking around seems to be just any other way of carrying about oneself from one position to another but it could be importantly more than this from the psychological point of view. It must be admitted though that there are various reasons for walking from one place to another. Again people could walk in a group or one can walk as an individual. While walking in a group, people would converse about different topics, share ideas or funny enough though rare, walk while quiet. When walking alone on the way, a number of things happen. You will gauze at every unique and unfamiliar thing. You will probably look and admire a person’s hairstyle, dress or even the shoe he or she is wearing. You can even marvel at a newly constructed towering building and so on. All these taking place in you could have not been possible if just sat at a place without walking to wherever you were going to. In a nutshell, when we take a walk, about ninety percent of what we had in our minds just before we had the walk somehow take a back stage and what rules our minds is what we are seeing, hearing and touching then.

Psychologists have attached quite a lot of importance on having walks in between work sessions. It could be within hours of work, days of work or weeks of work. And true to their assertions, a number of psychological research opine that walking in between work reduces stress at work since it eradicates mental lethargy by relaxing and restoring the mind. To add on, it also boosts the performance at work and also enhances an individual’s satisfaction. So let people get outside and have contact with nature.

The most common break that many people are familiar with is the lunch break. This is so common just as the name suggests to the extent it is just treated by many as a necessary break. For this reason many studies have not paid attention to the extent to which having contact with nature while walking during lunch breaks can impact on work performance and well-being. It could be that relaxation and exposure to the non-work environment during other breaks other than lunch break has more positive impact on performance and wellbeing. It is therefore on this premise that this research study was conducted to evaluate the impact that weekly walking breaks have on working and wellbeing.

Background of the Study

The main objective of this research project was to evaluate the impact that weekly walking breaks have on working and wellbeing.

The study also had some specific objectives which went a long way in helping the research answer the main objective in an exhaustive manner.

The Specific Objectives of the Research Project were;

• To evaluate the impact of walking during breaks on psychological capital.
• To establish whether lunch time breaks have the same impact just like any other breaks during working hours.
• To establish whether taking walks during breaks enhances job satisfaction.
• To gauge how frequent should breaks and walks be to improve work and wellbeing.

This research study is an important exercise since it will provide more knowledge on the extent to which relaxation in between work helps improve an employee’s output and wellbeing. So it will act as an important resource to employers who are looking for various ways to improve human productivity in their firms. As a result of this research, more research will be done on the same topic by other researchers in a bid to strengthen its weaknesses. It also adds to the existing literature about impacts of taking breaks to walk around which will come in handy to students studying psychology and employers.

We employed a longitudinal kind of a design since the results of the study were to be monitored at different stages during a 8-week period. Respondents were supposed filled in the questionnaires just before the first walk, midway, after the fourth walk and lastly after the eighth walk. In the questionnaires, the respondents gave responses as to how they felt at work after the walks; were they able to work longer than before or not and were they feeling a difference in job satisfaction or not and were they able to meet their set goals comfortably at work among others. . We gathered such information after every period of walk for the purpose of analysis so as to evaluate the impact of weekly walking breaks. Due to the nature of this research, a descriptive design was extensively used so as to have more information about the population of study. To establish how weekly break walks influence work and wellbeing, both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. With the two methods the study was able to describe collected data and respondents characteristics adequately and in a precise manner.

The main method that was used in this research project was equal chance sampling which is also known as simple random sampling. The study adopted this method due to its unbiased nature. With this method, every element of the population has got an equal chance of being selected to take part in the study. The objective of this was to ensure that the research findings reflect the true state of affairs as far as the impact of weekly break walks on work and wellbeing are concerned.

Statement of the Problem

This research study generally used primary data. Primary data refers to information collected directly from the participants. This kind of information is always accurate as it has not undergone through any translation or has not been passed to a second party for it to reach the researchers. To get this this primary data, questionnaires were used. The questionnaires contained both structured and unstructured questions. The questions in the questionnaires were short in length just consisting of about five demographic questions and other 35 questions which just needed to be ticked appropriately to make it take the shortest time possible. Averagely, the questionnaire was designed to take about 10 to 15 minutes.

Since most of the data is qualitative, the research employed much of inferential statistics than descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics therefore was used mostly in analysing demographic data where various measures of central tendencies like mode, mean and median described the data and measures of dispersion such as range, variance, quartiles, standard deviation and variance were used too. For instance, t-tests were used to determine whether there was a significant difference in wellbeing after the different periods of walk. Pearson’s correlation was also employed to establish whether there were associations between number of walks and the extent of wellbeing.

After the eight week period of the study, we employed various statistical methods as discussed in the chapter before and deduced the following;

The pie-chart below shows the percentage of individuals who walk to or from work. 

Figure 1

It can be observed from the pie chart above that more than a half of people who travel to their work places do not take a walk but are driven to or from. This is well illustrated by the chart above which indicates that 55% of workers do not really walk to or from work while 45% of the workers do walk to and from work.

Is your Health Good?

Below is a diagrammatic representation of the responses on whether participants felt their health were good.

Figure 3

It is evident from the pie chart above that majority of the people were satisfied with their health status at work. About 91% showed positive response about their health at work. 10% said that they feel excellent about their health, 38% felt very good about their health while 43% felt very good about their health. It can be said that only 2% of the respondents did indicate that they are not feeling good about their health at work places.

Main Objective of the Research

This part of the study sought to find out how people were satisfied at their places of work in various aspects.

At my work, I feel bursting with energy.
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Never	1	5.9	6.3	6.3
Rarely (Once a month or less)	3	17.6	18.8	25.0
Sometimes (Few times a month)	4	23.5	25.0	50.0
Often (Once a week)	6	35.3	37.5	87.5
Very Often (Few times a week)	1	5.9	6.3	93.8
Always (Every day)	1	5.9	6.3	100.0
Total	16	94.1	100.0
Missing	System	1	5.9
Total	17	100.0

Table 2

 

Figure 4

When it comes to work satisfaction, we can see that only 6.5% of the interviewed respondents admitted to be feeling bursting with energy every day at their work places. This means that they are enjoying their work. According to the chart above, rarely do most workers feel energized at their places of work.

Measure of Engagement, Does your work inspire you?

A measure of engagement: My job inspires me.
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Almost Never (Few times a year or less)	2	11.8	12.5	12.5
Sometimes (Few times a month)	4	23.5	25.0	37.5
Often (Once a week)	5	29.4	31.3	68.8
Very Often (Few times a week)	3	17.6	18.8	87.5
Always (Every day)	2	11.8	12.5	100.0
Total	16	94.1	100.0
Missing	System	1	5.9
Total	17	100.0

Table 3

From table 3 above, it can be observed that only 11% of the people working find their jobs inspiring every day. Majority of these people just find their jobs inspiring one a week or few times a month. Another 11% do not find their jobs that inspiring. They have recorded that they only find it inspiring just a few times a year. The scenario above is well represented by the bar graph below diagrammatically for a better view. 

Figure 5

A Measure of Psychological Capital 

A measure of psychological capital: At this time, I am meeting the work goals that I have set for myself.
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Strongly Disagree	1	5.9	6.3	6.3
Disagree	2	11.8	12.5	18.8
Somewhat Disagree	2	11.8	12.5	31.3
Somewhat Agree	6	35.3	37.5	68.8
Agree	4	23.5	25.0	93.8
Strongly Agree	1	5.9	6.3	100.0
Total	16	94.1	100.0
Missing	System	1	5.9
Total	17	100.0

Table 4

The table above table gives in category what workers feel about their psychological capital. As can be seen, majority who constitutes to about 64.7% feel that they are meeting the goals that they have set for themselves at work. The remaining 35.3% feel that they are not meeting the goals they have set for themselves at work. The bar graph below is a pictorial representation of the above scenario for a better view.

 

Since the general understanding is that too much work without breaks or exercise leads to brain fatigue and therefore less output at work (Sweetman & Harms, 2013), our research project focused on what impact walking during breaks had on working people with regard to wellbeing or satisfaction and performance. We wanted to establish the effect of this exercise on psychological capital which has a solid relationship with satisfaction and performance.

The study revealed that taking walking breaks instilled a component of hope where most of the participants after the walks testified to be positively motivated in their places of work. Others even said that they feel rejuvenated and had this successful feeling of achieving their goals contrary to before. This project also brought efficacy among employees who took part in the survey. It instilled confidence in their ability to achieve their goals regardless of the situations they were in.

Specific Objectives of the Research Project

In an organization, there are certain things that employees feel that they can or cannot achieve. According to (Norman, 2008), this exercise reinforces hope and efficacy. It short it brings optimism, a feeling that everything is possible. It is asserted by (Avey, 2011) that walking enable workers recuperate from stress or conflict. Walking builds a sense of resilience which is a good approach of coping with unfavourable conditions (Luthans, 2002). This therefore ensures a boost in psychological capital.

Our research study dwelt on human subjects. This was appropriate since occupational psychology projects deal with either humans or animals. We can also describe the project as experimental due to the fact that we wanted to establish the impact of an intervention on development process in a group of subjects which in our case were workers. Though psychological research projects employ either cross-sectional or longitudinal design, we felt that we would have applied cross-sectional design rather than the longitudinal design. This is because longitudinal method takes a period of time hence encouraging inconsistencies of information when subjects pull out of the survey. It also suffers lack of baseline information for comparison purposes. Lastly, our project fits an psychological research since it is testable and can be determined (Grendon, 2002). It is testable in the sense that observations can either prove it right or not right. On the other hand, it can be determined since it is a mental phenomenon which can be expressed in terms of cause and effect.

We can report that the recruitment process combined with a well-planned targeting strategy enabled us achieve the highest percentage in retention in the number of study participants during the entire eight week period that the project took. This ensured consistency of our data. It was also observed that the improvement in psychological capital and wellbeing indicators as established by this study results are attributed to this study project’s intervention. All the successes notwithstanding, there were problems that were being brought about by questions which were not clear to the respondents. This consumed a lot of time during collection of information since we had to take a lot of time making questions clear to the participants. It is therefore proper that in future psychological research projects subject their questionnaires piloting so as to identify probable technicalities before the actual project survey.

This research project upheld the rule of ethical issues in research. For example, we sought for voluntary consent of the participants. This was done by giving a consent form containing the details of the project so that they can read and consider taking part or not. So participants we had were not coerced or influenced in any way to take part in the study. We also ensured that participants’ information is anonymized. Data collected and stored in the computers were protected using security passwords to ensure no access to unauthorized parties.

Significance of the Study

Studies have it that being in an office environment for quite a long time encourages stress and mental fatigue (Terry & Karageorghis, 2012). So the study recommends that it is quite imperative to get outside so as to be able to get vitamin D which is not only important for the development of strong bones but also help in boosting the immune system. Though there has been a lot of debate among researchers on the length of time in between work session one should just stroll out in the sun, it is recommended that between 10 to 30 minutes is just enough (Wernsing, 2008).

According to (Shatté, Perlman, & Smith, 2017), having a walk outside the office or the working area serves a great deal in reducing tension and depression in an individual. He adds that sitting on a swivel chair for hours on stretch does more harm to the body and personal posture. Another study by (Jinnett & Schwatka, 2017) found that even conducting meetings outside really helps.

Many people are used to taking a cup of coffee at work when they feel tired (Barnes & Miller, 2007). Yes it helps but caffeine will only jolt you for a short period of time. It is therefore encouraged that people get out into nature and feel their mind and spirit rejuvenated. This research also asserts that taking walks outside work brings a sense of vitality, energy and enthusiasm which goes a long way in boosting a person’s wellbeing and psychological capital (Walumbwa & Zhang, 2011). 

References.

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Barnes, C. M., & Miller, J. A. (2007). . Helping employees sleep well: Effects of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia on work outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology,, 104.

Grendon, B. (2002). “Why emotional capital matters in education and labour”.

Jinnett , K., & Schwatka, N. (2017). . Chronic Conditions, Workplace Safety, And Job Demands Contribute To Absenteeism And Job Performance. Health Affairs,, 237-244.

Luthans, F. (2002). The need for and the meaning of positive organizational behaviour. Journal of organizational behaviour.

McLellan, R. K. (2017). Work, Health, And Worker Well-Being: Roles And Opportunities For Employers. . Health Affairs, 206-213.

Norman, S. (2008). Mediating role of psychological capital in the supportive organizational climate: Employee performance relationship. Journal of organizational behaviour.

Shatté, A., Perlman, A., & Smith, B. (2017). The Positive Effect of Resilience on Stress and Business Outcomes in Difficult Work Environments. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 135-140.

Sweetman, D. S., & Harms, P. D. (2013). Meeting the leadership challenge of employee wellbeing through relationship psycap and health psycap. Journal of Leadership & Organizational studies.

Terry, P. C., & Karageorghis, C. I. (2012). Effects of music on work rate redistribution. Sports med journal.

Walumbwa, F. O., & Zhang, Z. (2011). Psychological capital and employee performance: A latent growth modelling. Personel psychology.

Wernsing, S. (2008). Impact of psychological capital and emotion on relevant attitudes and behaviours. The journal of applied behavioural science, 48-70.