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5 ways to upskill on your tea break

Ahh, tea; our loyal companion. A properly brewed cuppa seems to solve all of life’s problems, doesn’t it?

Finished your favourite Netflix series? Get the kettle on. Friend needs to vent about their partner? It’s time for tea.

Whether you’re a PG tips lover or a Twinings connoisseur, the UK really loves a good cuppa. So much so that British workers spend an average of 109 hours per year taking those much–loved tea breaks.

This poses the question: with the equivalent of over three working weeks being used for tea breaks, what could you achieve rather than gossiping or scrolling, and how can you learn something new?

1. YouTube is a heaven-sent resource

We’ve all watched funny cat videos, the “how to fix my sink” tutorials and for some of us unlucky ones, the “Baby Shark Dance” video, but YouTube has also been a fundamental learning tool for many years.

From learning sign language to cooking up a storm in the kitchen, and with over 300 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute – you’ll never run out of ways to upskill at ease.

Take it from the aspiring bread-makers, there has been a 260% increase in average daily views of YouTube videos about making sourdough since March 2020.

2. Lean on your pocket LMS

If your workplace is smart enough to have an integrated learning management system (and if it doesn’t, we know just the people that can fix that for you…), why not grab yourself a cup of tea and make use of your mobile-friendly LMS?

A tea break is just enough time to get stuck into a few of our favourite short off-the-shelf eLearning courses:

  • Learn how to communicate effectively
  • The need for PPE

Learning is 50% more engaging when it’s bite-sized, so why not get started on your customer service journey with a whole host of courses that can be split over multiple tea breaks!

3. Put your feet up and read a blog

We live in a world where many of us would rather watch a short video than read a lengthy piece of content, but much to some people’s disbelief, people still love blogs and want to keep reading.

In fact, 77% of Internet users still read blogs in 2021, and the top reason people are driven to read blogs is to learn something new.

The average blog post takes only a few minutes to read, so while you sit down to take the first sip of your tea, take a moment to catch up with your favourite blog.

Want to read something more industry–specific? Read how games are revolutionising the eLearning world or how Generation Z aren’t afraid to rock the boat in the workplace.

4. TikTok – yup, we said it!

Believe it or not, TikTok is home to some genuinely useful life skills and hacks.

TikTok, a video-sharing social networking platform, allows people all over the world to share user-generated videos varying between 15 seconds and one minute.

It might not sound like a lot of time, but that’s why it’s so great. A lot of the content is concise and to the point.

Some viral TikToks include how to properly clean your kitchen, how to become a master at dancing and even how to advance in your career – yes, all under 60 seconds!

5. Plug in, podcast on

Podcasts are perfect for the multi-taskers of the world.

There are over two million podcasts to choose from on Spotify alone, all free with a Spotify subscription.

It’s never been easier to upskill on your 20-minute break when you have a whole podcast library in the palm of your hand.

From discovering the basics of digital marketing to learning about anything and everything under the sun, podcasts have got you and your curiosity to upskill covered.

The 100-hour knack claims that investing 100 hours on a new skill will get you to a point where you can reap the benefits.

It takes just 100 hours to get the ‘knack’ of something.

When the average Brit is spending more than that on a tea break, why not also invest the time in improving yourself, boosting your knowledge or just learning something new?

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Written by Mara Swann

Mara has a passion for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion across global workplaces and hopes to inspire learners to focus on their own careers with self-directed learning content.

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