Take a Micro Break and Play a Quick Game of Solitaire

 I've been working for years now as a freelance content writer. Working from home suits me well as it gives me the chance to still run errands and complete chores before the boys get home. There are good days when I get too engrossed on what I write and the words just keep flowing out of my head straight to my keyboard. And there are bad days when the deadlines are piled up together with the chores and errands I needed to do at home. What keeps me sane everyday, whether it's good or bad, are the micro breaks I take.

Photo by Alessandro Bianchi

What is a Micro Break?

Sophia Cho, an assistant professor of Psychology at North Carolina State University, co-authored a paper that discusses how micro breaks increase productivity at work. The term is self-explanatory, actually. Micro breaks are quick breaks. It's a short and impromptu break in the middle of one's work day. 

By quick, we mean five minutes or less. Don't worry, these  precious five minutes can still do wonders for your productivity. Besides, you can do so many things on your five-minute micro break. Take for example walking to the pantry to refill your glass of water. Or  how about gazing out of the window while stretching your arms, back, and legs.  

You can have more than one  or two micro breaks in a day. If you have a mandatory 15-minute coffee  break in the morning and afternoon in the office, you can squeeze a micro break in between those coffee breaks and your lunch break. Remember that the goal here is to give you time to disengage from work and recharge.

How about a quick game of Solitaire?

I remember in my husband's former office, there's a special room with lounge chairs and a Playstation. How cool is that, right?  I don't have an employer, but at least I have more freedom to have micro breaks. And when I do, I go for a quick game of Solitaire online at Solitaire.org. I like playing in this site because I don't need to install any software on my computer. Also, I am able to track the time I spend playing the game and I even challenge myself to finish the deck in 3 minutes!

What you see in the photo is the classic Solitaire game but there are other variations of this card game. I only know how to play this version and the Pyramid Solitaire version that's shown below.

Thanks to this site, I got to discover how to play the other versions and boy was I surprised to see how many they were! Did you even know that these version of Solitaire existed?

• Klondike
• Freecell
• Spider
• Tripeaks
• Golf
• Ace of Hearts
• 3 Keys
• Ali Baba
• Baker's Dozen
• Black Hole
• Cup of Tea
• Eight Off
• Forty Thieves
• Gaps
• La Belle Lucie
• Lightning
• Spidike
• Wasp
• Yukon
• Zero 21

Solitaire.org is also a multi-game site and you will be able to play other fun online games from the site. I checked out the online Mahjong game which was also enjoyable. Tiles are used in playing the original Mahjong game. I remember happy times with the family seeing my uncles and aunts playing together in a Mahjong table. However, I didn't get to learn the game. 

Still, it only took me a minute to understand how it is played because clear instructions are also displayed on the site. This list isn't even complete but you can check the complete list of online games on the site and play to your heart's content.  Just don't forget the 5-minute micro break rule!