Want to be happier at work? Take a five minute walk

Lead researcher Keith Diaz told the BBC that most adults now spend three-quarters of their day asleep.

He added that while the general advice to “sit less and move more” is correct, people need to know how much they are taking.

“The good news is that a five-minute walk every hour is enough to improve mood and reduce fatigue. And people find this realistic and achievable,” Diaz said.

The study, conducted by Columbia University, surveyed more than 11,000 American workers — most of whom had office jobs and worked eight- to nine-hour shifts.

For the first week, they performed their usual activities and completed daily surveys of fatigue, mood, and work performance.

They were asked to take a five-minute break from work every half hour, hour or two for the next two weeks and fill out the same surveys.

Walking every half hour was good for mood and reducing fatigue, but it was disruptive to his daily routine.. A person walking every two hours is better than not walking at all, but researchers found that a five-minute walk every hour showed the biggest and most likely improvement in productivity, mood and alertness.