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Sweden

"In Sweden we enjoy fika, taking a coffee break with friends. It's been a part of our culture since the 1700s. In many companies, people take fika breaks around 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.; they head to a café for lattes, tea, or smoothies with a cinnamon roll, muffin, or macaron. Fika has something very friendly and peaceful about it."—Sarah Melin, 42, manager at a TV production company; Stockholm

What you can do: Program a break reminder into your smartphone, heed the beeps, and grab a friend for coffee in the office kitchen. Don't feel guilty for slacking off; in a study from MIT, people who got up to socialize during the work day ended up being 10 to 15% more productive than those who didn't.

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