The Conscious Work-Rest Cycle: How to take Breaks in 2023
We all know it: Breaks are good for us. They are essential for our cognitive, mental, physical, social, occupational and spiritual health. We need them: We have all experienced the effect of scheduling meetings back to back, packing our schedules full to the brim and not leaving any room for mental breaks. We’re not speaking of the “Wow, I got so much done today”-happy-exhausted, but rather of the “I don’t know what I got done today, but I am ready to head to bed now“- exhausted. Been there? Athletes know the value of an off-day and they follow it religiously. Artists know the power of a creative pause. We have all advised an overworked friend or colleague to take a break and come back to the problem later. So why are we still not prioritising breaks in the way we need for ourselves?
The most common reason people don’t take breaks in their day-to-day working schedule is FOMO: Fear that they’re missing out, fear that they’re behind, fear that they’re not working enough, or fear that their boss might think they’re not taking the work seriously. Everybody has created their unique signature cocktail of reasons. Adding fuel to the fire, our faster-better-more culture, primes us to view rest as a sign of weakness, rather than as a proactive investment in our health, our relationships and work. “It takes courage to say yes to rest and play, in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol,” says bestselling author Brené Brown.
The thing about taking breaks is that - just like not taking them - their effect is cumulative. You won’t feel the benefit overnight, but you will feel the effect of not taking them for a few months in a row. In the short run, finishing up an email (just really quickly) feels more productive and therefore rewarding than taking a 15-minute break. It is easy to put off mental rest when everything else seems more urgent and time-sensitive. What happens, however, if we don’t replenish our batteries?
Short Term: Because our brain can only focus for a certain amount of time - after which it goes into the equivalent of your phone’s “battery saving mode” - we actually get less done. When we don’t take breaks, we exhaust our cognitive resources and don’t replenish them properly, meaning that the battery pack keeps getting emptier.
Short to Medium Term: Getting less done adds to stress and the to do list (because we are, in fact, getting less things done when we don’t work productively). We are tired and overwhelmed, succumbing to distractions and non-important stimuli from our environment more easily. This also impacts working (short-term) memory and the process of moving information from working memory to long-term memory. Working in front of a laptop all day further leads to digital overwhelm.
Medium Term: This is where we get frustrated with ourselves, consequently also with others. Problem solving and creative thinking are challenging, because we don’t have enough cognitive capacity for them. We are not living up to our potential, personally or professionally.
Long Term: The best case is that our unproductive, exhaustive work pattern has become a habit. We are grumpy and not getting as much done as we could. The worst case is burnout, depression and other physical health issues.
Today, we want to encourage you to take a conscious look at the way you rest and work. Ask yourself, truly and honestly:
What state are you in when you get your best work done? Do you achieve this state by working tirelessly and without breaks?
What’s the anatomy of the ideal day for you? How are you feeling in this vision and what would contribute to this kind of day?
What is the worst thing that could happen if you took 15 minutes here and there to do something that replenishes your mental energy resources? And if your answer is that you get less work done, keep reading below.
Allow us to supplement the previous points with some research:
There is an increasing amount of studies showing what makes you more or less productive. Studies (and Self-help bestsellers) have suggested different time spans for how long we can actually work productively with our full attention. The longest was 90 minutes, corresponding roughly to the 90-minute rest-activity cycle of alertness we go through. A newer study analysing the behaviour of the top 10% most productive employees found they consistently took 15-min breaks after 52 minutes. The study found that those taking more breaks than once per hour (see Pomodoro Technique) were less productive overall, but still more productive than those not taking any breaks.
So, why don’t you give it shot for one week and see the effect a conscious and deliberate work-break cycle has on your to-do list and your state of being? Here are our thoughts:
Think about the person that you are when you are relaxed, calm, happy and getting things done. This is your why.
Schedule a timer to take a short 10-15 minute break every hour (or every 52 minutes). If you find yourself being completely immersed in a piece of work, silence the timer but don’t forget your break for alter. If you find that your attention span is longer than those 52 minutes, keep experimenting until you find your perfect rhythm. It likely isn’t above 90 minutes.
Make a to-do list that is aligned with your new conscious work-break cycle. This includes: Allowing space between your meetings, Zooms and conference calls (if this is not possible, mute yourself and turn off your camera to close your eyes and stretch for a few moments). Leave meetings with enough time to give yourself a short breather before your next meeting. Schedule your breaks into your calendar and make a plan for what break you will take. Platforms like Interlude are also great for this.
Below are some science-backed ideas for your new work-break schedule. Let’s make 2023 the year where we finally take breaks seriously, shall we? For ourselves and the people around us!
