How a Swedish coffee break can boost your wellbeing and performance - BBC REEL 

Ah! So we were joking about that, I thought it couldn’t be right, Swedes seem so healthy, they couldn’t be eating a round of cinnamon buns, cookies and Princess cakes every workday, twice a day!!!

I love bringing homemade treats to work. Everyone loves it and requests their “favorite” cake or pie. ❤️ from Austin Texas

enlighten me how is it that even your older generation is so good in English?your pronunciation also sounds like an American too!the language has a Germanic root i think,how is this possible!

@@lizakroberts cinnamon buns are pretty standard for workday fika actually. However they arent as unhealthy as the cinnamon buns that americans eat so i think thats why its not as unhealthy, we dont have frosting on them and if i remember correctly we put slightly less of the cinnamon cream thing inside

@@yalda3339 Immersion, movies and shows are usually not dubbed unless they are for kids. And even then you can see it in English too. Music is in English a lot as well. Far more than Swedish.

Many European countries have rules on total working hours, minimum pauses per day etc. But usually it is not made into a social ritual like with the Swedish fika.

Are u from USA?

@@FlightNSurf Are you from USA ??, what ??. That's it ?. Are you from the USA ?. Other than desiring to know what country one is from, what's your fkn point ?.

@@verresmilliterres because break during workday is normal in other countries you fkn nugget

And you clearly haven't been living in Sweden if you say so.

Good point! Can't believe people think its just a "coffee break".. when here in North America, people are just taking breaks beside their computers or desk. Fika seems way more mindful than just "fueling the body to go back and work more".

It's an unwritten rule in Australia. It's very common for work colleagues to go out for 1-2 coffee breaks in a day just to hang out and chat. Yeah just a normal day here. By the way Australia has some of the best coffee in the world.

@@Tpb247 it really isn't. It's very much frowned upon in Australia to take up actual coffee breaks where you would leave you desk, sit somewhere else and chat with someone while eating cake. Lunch break is only 30 min as well! Don't get me wrong, people will go get a coffee, but they do it as quickly as possible and drink it sitting at their desks.

Nah as a finn I must say we also have coffee breaks written in our job contracts, we also have coffee breaks around 10am and 2pm and we drink coffee at lunch, dinner and some even drink it before they go to bed. Coffee culture is a huge thing in Finland, we've had the highest coffee consuption in the world, most people drink their coffee black and light brew (it has more caffeine). We tend to eat savory things first and then the sweet stuff. You are supposed to drink coffee or at least tea but if you don't drink either one of them you seem odd. It's kinda a taboo if someone hates coffee or doesn't drink alcohol. Before you enter the coffee table, you must pretend you're not in a hurry or that you don't wanna be the first to take the cake or whatever. You can't take the last piece either or if you do you must cut just it in half or just take a tiny piece. If you go first or take the last bit of cake, you will seem rude. You also cannot drink the last cup of coffee from the pan unless you make more. A lot of people have strong opinions on what kind of coffee maker is the correct one.. Oh and our swedish speking minority does use the word fika and some of us finns use the word "fiikata". I never even knew swedish people considered themselves as coffee nation when I grew up! So it's not just Sweden when it comes to a social culture around coffee. ;)

@@miyounova I have never had any one complain or frown upon at all for a 10-15 min coffee break with my colleague(s) at the places I have worked. Maybe in some industries like retail it must be true. Sorry might be my narrow world view 🙂

Did you also have lunch? Was it cookies or cake TWICE a day? Were there sweets in tiny portions?

@@lizakroberts hi, another comment on here said that they only have sweets on Friday afternoon. Not everyday. So maybe this person also only had sweets on Friday afternoon only?

@@lizakroberts yes we have small cookies aswell but it's not very often we eat those. fika can just mean a cup of coffe and a chat with your work friends no need for sweets. but in this context i think his grandma made those small cookies and they ate 1-2 of those everyday.

It sounds like they're protecting employees from burnout. That's wonderful

but they're not productive. I'm from friggin Ohio, a joke flyover state, same population as Sweden but much higher GDP.

@@baxterandcotton Most Americans are miserable. This country treats its people like garbage.

And they’re mostly white

Sweden invests in money and treats people like useless objects and numbers and it's a scary place to live.

Haha. But you mean another kind of ...

This video is absolutely hilarious when you speak Italian, I was dying laughing. "Fika is the key to a productive workday" 🤣

Except it's not Fika, each country will have it's own name and traditions and those should be celebrated.

If you look at Brazil, also, that is exactly what we do every single working day: 9:00am and 3:00pm. It’s like, an institution. It’s sacred.

We Koreans have too much Fika at workplaces

Is having English high tea in the afternoon the same experience?

It's not just at work though.

Yeah that needs to change. I used to be constantly moving no breaks,but I noticed I was very agitated. So now I take several small breaks. My boss knows our work ethic so long as the work is getting done,they don't care. I work in a relaxing environment

Don’t you get a lunch break? Should be minimum of 30 minutes

It's because we pay a lot of tax that our countries are so good. That we have free health care, 1 year maternity leave, free higher education, and work 8 hours. And in the US you don't want to do that. And especially the many rich people.

@@ls-l1518 Low and middle income Americans pay a larger percentage of their income to taxes than do many of the nations with these kinds of social protections. If you include the expense of paying for health insurance, then Americans are easily paying a larger percentage of their incomes towards these social services. 1/3rd of my take home income is used to pay for health insurance alone. Sure, I only pay 20% in federal income tax and another 8% in state income tax, but we have to pay "fees" for a variety of things that really take a bite out of the budget. (And considering that health insurance only covers 70% of medical costs, things just keep getting more and more expensive if you are sick) I can expect to see about 65% of my gross income as my take home pay (Federal tax, state tax, city tax, SSI tax, FICA tax), then when you add on the 33% of my take home pay that has to go towards health insurance premiums, I would argue that Americans are paying a lot more and getting much less than the "high tax" nations. Don't even get me started on how I have to pay for a service that in turn tells me how much tax I need to pay the government. That's right, Americans have to pay someone $100-200 a year to tell them how much they owe in income taxes. Not even joking.

@@MsGenXodus You live in a very unjust society. The rich are too rich. But we also have a lot of extra taxes, on property, here in Denmark, there is 25% VAT on everything. I am Norwegian, and therw is less tax there. But then we get free health care and don't have the hassle of insurance companies. I just had a chataract operation. There is waiting to get to the eye doctor, but once she sent an referral , I was operated within 3 weeks. And then the schools. I have studied 6 years psychology on the university without paying a dime. And gotten student loans to live on. Some of that I got deducted, because I was faster than the 6 years, 5 1/2 years. I think now with social media, many Americans realize, that what they have been told is sosialism, is simply taking care of each other, and the strong carrying the weak/sick. And then we don't work as much as you, but still are better off. You must get general health care.

Swedish workplaces also have to give you a 5 minutes break every hour by law, on top of the day's lunch break and fika break.

I came here to say this. Definitely appreciate our coffee and lunch breaks here!

yeah it's called a bloody smoko mate

Aw yea mate but you guys come to work at bloody 8-9 so having a smoko at 10 is just plain lazy. I worked in cbd cafes, plenty of office wankers grab their morning coffee at 8:30 then already out and about at 10 blowing a smoke outside again.

@@EvanAristyaYudhais that how you really talk in Australia? 🤣🤣

It does depend on the workplace though. I've worked in lots of places in Australia where breaks are only taken by everyone for a special occasion like a birthday or someone leaving.

yep, all these lands protected for free by the american military and taxpayer get to enjoy such things.

@@michaelfarkas2257 why are you like this

With the difference New Zealand is an incredibly beautiful country.

They bring the custom over to the US here at work.

lol yeah they dont have to have a serious military. america protects them for free. if we didnt have to have a military, we could just chill on break all day as well. imagine if america didnt need to spend the 1 trillion per year it does on its military? that is reality for these nothern european countries and the entire western world.

Ok, so what would happen if you refuse to fika with Mohammad, would you get your head cut off or blown to fleshy bits?

Make the move!! We were living in London and decided to move to Sweden after having kids - it was here or Australia. The childcare costs are crazy in London and here we pay next to nothing for förskola. Also, we only afforded ourselves a one-bedroom flat which we have since sold, now we can get a house for that price. Taxes are a lot higher but the quality of life is much more amazing!!

You clearly don't know what you're talking about. Move to Sweden then get back here and tell me about " healthy human interaction" in Sweden.

Come to Sweden! Then get depressed and run away like everyone else.

HAPPY environment in Sweden? Oh dear. Come and live here then tell me how "happy" you are.

@@astridcyanistescaeruleus4126 statisticaly sweden is one of the happiest countries in the world. Try living in another country like the US and youll come back in no time when you realise how good we have it here in sweden.

@@lmao2351 I lived in 8 countries, 9 with Sweden. I'm sorry I don't agree. Most probably it's you that you never lived here.

@@astridcyanistescaeruleus4126 im swedish. Acording to many studies sweden is one of the happiest countries in the world. All nordic countries are. You think sweden sucks because thats what youve been told by the people around you. Sweden literally ranks number 1 in the quality of life index

@@lmao2351 I live in Sweden and Sweden sucks. And I look forward to leave this country. Also I've never met so many pathological liars as I met here. I'm sorry for kids and elderlies who live here, and I'm sorry for people who happen to have emotions and sensitivity too. Statistics doesn't even say how many criminals don't end up in jail here just because they are Swedes, and your beloved statistics can't see how many women had been abused by Swedes, to mention another problem we have here, just because those women are silenced and can't report anything. Sweden is not happy, Sweden is fake.

Wow very deep reason!

Svenskt fika är det bästaaaaaa

Not really no. Not to this extent. Some workplaces pay for a 10 min break in the morning and a 10 min break in the afternoon, but many people either take it on their own, or quickly go out to get a coffee and might chat with someone while going to buy the coffee, but they don't actually sit down to have coffee, cake and a chat. Also, many people don't take those 2 breaks and just go home 20 min earlier. If you were to take 30 min, outside of lunch break that is, you'd definitely get told off and wouldn't do it again.

@@miyounova I agree. I think it is too stressful in Australia and New Zealand to sit down, relax and enjoy some extra breaks. I can't remember myself ever having an extra breaks in any companies I've worked for apart from the lunch break. It's all rushed. Some Euro countries have that but us here certainly don't.

but what will happen if china invades you? will you pick up your biscuits and go fight? no america will come bail you out and protect you. so you can have your coffee breaks.

Why

Same here!

Hahaha me too! To much cookie love here

Also how do they sleep at night with so much coffee?

Why

Exactly. More Socialism. Americans have been brainwashed to he TERRIFIED of it by greedy corporations influencing the government to do so.

@southernfriedchicken92 Sorry to disappoint u here lil honey bunny. But Sweden has no oil. Neighbour country Norway though, has oil. And the inbreeding? A thing of the past, and it was never widespread. None are inbred today , to the extent you want to imply, in either country. DON'T GO AROUND SPREADING MISINFORMATION ABOUT THINGS YOU CLEARLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT FIRST HAND. Stay healthy, stay safe. All the well wishes 🙏

@southernfriedchicken92 I'm really sorry, but your english and sentence pattern is really hard to understand 😔. No ill intentions/ malicious intent, with what I just said! I think 🤔 and I really mean think, that what you are looking for to describe with your use of "inbred" which has a completely different ring to it than "bred for the climate " is probably: ACCLIMATISATION, acclimatised to the region, which they have lived for generations. But even that is an unusual viewpoint when talking about social life, interaction, stress and wealth? Though I hope I found the word for you! 😊 All the well wishes!

@@rooneye no they haven't, the socialism the US pedals only benefits benefits rich while flying the middle class, Scandinavians are not an economic drivin culture, meaning they are more generous and do not only live to make money

@@donuseeisee6465 I had a good laugh when I read the bit about the Swedes having oil.. together with the rest of the comment...well, I guess it tells something about the general knowledge among some people in certain countries. NOT mentioning any names, of course.. Greetings from Oslo.

It’s a secret for us swedes as well…

Especially because several other countries are officially happier....

And still the americans believe they are the no.1 country

Try teaching in the US…if you can even GET to a bathroom and back in time

Yep. The American model ruins everything.

@@miyounova I'm having a coffee break at 3:30pm in California now.

Concepts of it are basically the same as Afternoon-Tea, just the elements are different. But it's something each region does differently, but the idea of an interval for tea and treats is the same. Americans just have it in their social norm to work their employees from 9-5 nonstop.

In Sweden they need weed+ more that just one pint.

Same in French, it's called verlan (for à l'envers backwards)

Lol

You nailed it. Fika is almost always a good idea. 😇 Greetings from 🇩🇪

@@stevieray6216 🤣🤣🤣

What country my friend?

Relaxed approach to work, perhaps due to an underlying relaxed approach to gaining profits by employers.

The Japanese does this as well, they just do it after office hour and over an alcoholic drinks (not Coffee or tea) While Swedes have both, in between working hours and after work as well. The Swedes are also well known as evening coffee drinkers as well.

I am lucky if I get time to pee, that is of course if I had time to drink any water- I am a nurse- it’s all about run run run

how sad

thats right, because we provide military protection to the entire western world, which is very expensive. so we have to work while they take coffee breaks - and then cry for america to come save them every time russia or china invades.

And a fuka after that 😉

😂

nope, we have to work 24/7 to provide military protection for the entire western world, no biscuit breaks for us

@Seaworth lol what? the USA military protects the entire western world.

You would fika with your daughter?

Let everybody have a fika!

And Italian fi(k)a is way better man...

Swedes open minded 😂😂😂

we actually have to provide military defense for the entire western world so we dont get breaks

@@michaelfarkas2257 If USA stopped policing the world for its interests, usage of dollar would decrease and value of dollar would collapse. You should be gratefull for having a state which protects its citizens wealth. Also living conditions in USA is one of the best. What are you complaining about? Its physically impossible for USA to have the working conditions of a Scandinavian country.

@@michaelfarkas2257 If it were important (f/ex you do take bathroom breaks when needed?) you can always trade off Take turns.

Best pastries in the world imo. I've tried many and nothing comes close to it.

They are delicious

I am here in the USA but my LTR IS FROM SWEDEN. I DON'T CARE WGAT MY EMPLOYER WANTS. I TAKE 3 BREAKS A DAY FOR FIKA. SET YOUR FOOT DOWN AND DEMAND YOUR RIGHTS. POWER TO THE PEOPLE, NOT THESE CAPITALISTS RUNNING THE COUNTRY!

I had to google to find out what you mean. Hahahahha

Just watched the video and as an Italian I just peed myself… lol

Just googled it. I'm sure many men would be more than happy to take a fika break twice daily.

Except in Sweden, fika is mandated by law in workplaces and have to last at least 30 minutes

In a POS like India, no one works!!

It's much more than that. You have to live in Sweden to understand the difference.