Fika Is the Sitting Down, Not the Coffee — Epoche A2
MEMO To: All staff From: Head of Office Subject: Fika at 15.00 From Monday we will hold fika at three o'clock every afternoon in the kitchen. Fika is the Swedish habit of stopping work, sitting down together, and having coffee and something sweet. It is not a cup carried back to your screen. Some of you have asked why we do not simply let people take a break when they want one. The difference is small on paper and large in practice. Cup at the machine Fika at three Time Two minutes Fifteen minutes Where At your desk At the table With Your screen Whoever comes Result You are less tired You know what the others are doing The second column is not a longer version of the first. When work stops, people talk across teams, and questions get answered that nobody would write an email about. That is the point of the stop. Nobody books a meeting to say that a supplier is slow, but somebody says it over a bun. The coffee is only the reason to sit. Fika is not time taken away from work. It is fifteen minutes when the office can hear itself.