It’s a weekday afternoon. You’ve just met an urgent deadline and finally have a moment to breathe. Your smartphone vibrates, prompting you to glance at your notification centre, and a personal email catches your attention. After scrolling through and hitting reply, your boss walks by your desk. Uh oh. Any office employee has felt the guilt of taking the odd tech break (and getting caught by superiors). But if your boss takes issue with time spent texting and tweeting on the clock, just let them know it’s for the better of the company. A recent Kansas State University study has found that personal smartphone downtime or microbreaks increases productivity and boosts morale. An app tracked the 72 full-time workers who participated in the study, indicating that employees spend an average of 22 minutes each working day on these microbreaks. Study lead Sooyeol Kim, a doctoral student in psychological sciences, says those who took time out for a round of QuizUp left work happier, and that microbreaks refresh workers and help them recover from stress. So don’t feel guilty next time you take a beat with your device. Photo courtesy Jakub Krechowicz/Stockvault