Let’s Have Fika: How the Swedish practice of taking a break can benefit your work, personal life

Around 10 a.m. or 3 p.m. on any given day in Sweden, you might see people take a break. Wherever they are, in homes, workplaces and cafés, whether alone or with others, they stop what they’re doing to relax for 15 to 20 minutes over a cup of black coffee and a cookie, cinnamon bun or seasonal dessert.

It’s a ritual known as fika, and it benefits people socially, mentally and emotionally.

“It’s a very social thing, and people take it very serious, still to this day, to go out and hang out with friends and fika,” says Ola Nordstrom, who was born and raised in Stockholm and immigrated to Cape Girardeau by way of Scotland in 2015. “It is a time to really slow down and to hang out and talk more than just putting your head down and work.”

The practice might contribute to the country’s overall happiness: Sweden ranked seventh in the 2022 World Happiness Report, while America moved up three spots from 2021, ranking 16th, according to the World Happiness Report 2022, which ranks 150 countries’ levels of happiness based on their gross domestic product, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and corruption.

Nordstrom says people are generally more content and happy in Sweden, which he attributes to the culture surrounding work there: Swedes don’t find their identity in their occupation like people often do in America, he says. In addition, in Sweden, every worker starts out with four weeks of paid vacation time and unlimited sick days when they begin a new job and earns more weeks the longer they stay with the company. He says people take all of their days off, and while they are on vacation, they use their time to truly disconnect from work.

By contrast, American workers left an average of 9.5 paid vacation days unused in 2021, according to research by the experience management company Qualtrics XM. And while on vacation, nearly half did not totally disconnect: 49% of workers reported working at least one hour a day while away from the office.

“Taking the break and slowing down and taking the time for … reflection and prayer but then also with people [is beneficial],” Nordstrom says of the benefits of fika. “It seems here [in Southeast Missouri], people are so busy.”

Cookies made by Ola Nordstrom for fika rest in a basket on his kitchen counter in Cape Girardeau. Nordstrom says decades ago, it was expected that women would have multiple types of homemade treats ready to share for fika at any given time; today, many people purchase goodies for fika.Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

Cookies made by Ola Nordstrom for fika rest in a basket on his kitchen counter in Cape Girardeau. Nordstrom says decades ago, it was expected that women would have multiple types of homemade treats ready to share for fika at any given time; today, many people purchase goodies for fika.Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

Research supports Nordstrom’s theory: Taking a break has positive benefits, including increased capacity for attention, focus and creativity, according to the article “Taking Breaks is Good for Your Brain — Here’s Why,” by Emily Boynton. In addition, the study “Extraneous Factors in Judicial Decisions,” by Shai Danziger, Jonathan Levav and Liora Avnaim-Pesso, found taking breaks helped judges curb decision fatigue and make more compassionate decisions. And a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers found that work teams with a high amount of collective intelligence are “exceptionally effective with creative problem solving,” according to the article “The Secret Ingredient That Makes Some Teams More Effective Than Others,” by Margaret Heffernan. These groups naturally gave each member the same amount of time to talk, and each member of the team was more attuned to the other. Fika, which gives space for members of a work team to get to know each other every day, can help with that.

And the ritual isn’t only for morning and afternoon breaks; it is a state of mind that prioritizes making time for friends. Although Nordstrom says it is difficult to initially make friends in Sweden because it’s a “nation of introverts,” once someone is your friend, they follow through and do what they say when making plans. When out and about in the vicinity of a friend’s house, it’s expected to stop and have fika together.

It’s a practice Nordstrom has tried to incorporate versions of wherever he lives: Nordstrom moved to Scotland from Sweden in 1998 to attend Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a Christian discipleship training school for young adults ages 18 to 35. The six months he intended to stay there turned into 18 years, as he transitioned into training young people for missions after experiencing the program himself. He and his wife, Alayna, met there and traveled throughout Europe, Asia and Africa with the teams of young people they led. In 2015, they moved to Cape Girardeau to be in the same town as Alayna’s parents.

Now, they incorporate connection through food into their life in Cape Girardeau, making hospitality a hallmark of their marriage and home. Nordstrom says they enjoy inviting people over to make and eat Swedish waffles, bringing the ritual of rest and connection that is the point of fika to Southeast Missouri.

“In Sweden, [fika is] more of kind of religion,” Nordstrom says. “It’s part of the Swedish psyche that you have fika.”

Swedish bunting hangs near a world map in the Cape Girardeau home of Ola and Alayna Nordstrom. The couple met while working in Scotland and incorporate aspects of the cultures they have lived in into their lives in Southeast Missouri.Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

Swedish bunting hangs near a world map in the Cape Girardeau home of Ola and Alayna Nordstrom. The couple met while working in Scotland and incorporate aspects of the cultures they have lived in into their lives in Southeast Missouri.Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

__Take a break__

When 10 a.m. or 3 p.m. rolls around at work, here are five ways to connect with coworkers and bring a version of fika to your own workplace:

1. Have a cup of coffee or tea together.

2. Bring in your favorite treat to share.

3. Show others a song or video you’ve recently heard or seen.

4. Go on a walking meeting.

5. Volunteer or try a new hobby outside of the office together as a small or large group.