Restorative Breaks: Pauses That Recharge Your Mental Energy

Get the most of your breaks at work

Summer of 2018. It was ten in the morning. The train was filled with office-goers and college students. Their overlapping conversations creating a disproportionately organized sound. The nervousness of my end-term test wrapped around my brain. I hadn’t read a single word from the last unit.

I met my friend at the next station, hoping to absorb some of his knowledge about the last unit. I asked him to teach me. We had 40 minutes to cover a unit that takes 23 hours for my university professors to complete. With all the noise around us, I thought it is stupid to even think that I would be able to recall any of the things I was about to study. But we went ahead anyway.

For the next half-an-hour, we were intensely focused on our mission. Ignoring all the noise around us, my friend explained all the important concepts of that unit. He took a few oral quizzes in between his little lecture. I was making notes of everything he was explaining. I was drawing images, flowcharts, and doodles wherever it was neccesary.

Within the given amount of time, we were able to finish more than half of that unit. I revisited my notes before entering the examination hall, and to my surprise, I attempted all the questions from that unit. I was not perfect with the technical terminologies, however, I was pretty accurate with explaining the basic conceptual background of those problems.

That day I learned an important lesson about human attention:

Our environment has a very little influence on our ability to focus. Distraction is primarily a mind game, and not an effect of our social settings.

We were standing throughout our journey, barely balancing our bodies while traveling on a moving train. And yet I was able to retain 70% of the information I consumed in that time-frame.

The point is, that the human mind is designed for distraction, irrespective of the environment, and only a sincere effort to stay focused can keep us focused.

Designed for Distraction

Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley conducted a study of spatial attention in primates. While you may imagine attention as a state that is sustained for a long time, and which may be interrupted by distraction, their findings show a different mechanism.

The scientists found that we constantly oscillate between bubbles of attention and distraction, to analyze whether there is something out of our primary focus that needs to be addressed.

“Think about when life was more dangerous. You would have to constantly be on the lookout, you would want to always be aware if there was something around you with bigger teeth,” explains Ian Fiebelkorn, one of the authors of the research paper.

The problem is that today’s environment is full of stimuli that may grab your attention during those periods of distraction. Next time you blame yourself for letting your mind wander or clicking on a notification while trying to do focused work, remember that it’s just your brain doing what it is supposed to do: be on the lookout for potential danger.

Why Take Breaks?

In the previous section, we concluded that the human brain is designed to get distracted to look for potential dangers around us, which is why it is pointless to avoid distractions. However, a better way to deal with them is to organize and plan your distractions. Include breaks in your routine to stay focused.

Research shows that taking breaks helps maintain performance during the day, and reduces the need for a long recovery at the end of the day. That’s because detaching yourself from work helps you to maintain your energy levels and decreases the risk for exhaustion. Now the big question.

How many breaks do we need in a day?

There are lots of contradictory findings out there. In general, it seems that we need to take short breaks (5 to 10 minutes) every hour or so, and longer breaks (at least 30 minutes) every two to four hours.

Ultimately, the best way to figure out what schedule works for you is to experiment and track your energy levels throughout the day.

Activities to Recharge

Most people have one scheduled break every day: their lunch break. And many even skip that one, eating a sandwich at their desk. As a result, they feel tired during the afternoon. Instead of structured distraction, they fall prey to disruptive interferences. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Whether you take a micro-break or a longer break, there are many activities you can do that will help to refuel your energy stores.

1. Movement breaks. Get up and move your body. If you have time, go for a walk. You could even go for a run, or use your break for a gym session. If you don’t have a lot of time, getting up and stretching your body or doing some jumping jacks. Short, intense exercise has been proven to have a very positive impact on both attention and short-term memory formation.

2. Mental breaks. Do a short meditation or deep breathing session. Or just let your mind wander: scientists have found that daydreaming has a positive impact on cognition.

3. Social breaks. We are social animals. Social breaks, such as chatting with your peers, show a positive association with feeling recovered after the break. Schedule some social breaks with a colleague or a friend.

4. Nature breaks. Go outside to get some sunlight. If there’s a park nearby, even better. Studies show that nature has a positive impact on our mental health. You could also pet a dog if you have one handy. Research has shown that our oxytocin levels increase when gazing into a pet’s eyes. Oxytocin is often called the “cuddle drug” because it is released when two people are bonding emotionally. It’s an easy way to feel happy.

5. Creative breaks. Draw, doodle, listen to some music. Listening to classical music, in particular, has been shown to help with relaxation. If you can’t leave your desk, creative breaks are an easy way to take your mind off work for a little while.

Whatever breaks you find most beneficial for your productivity, creativity, and mental health, the most important part is to schedule them: restorative breaks are about not waiting until you are too tired to take a productive break.

Choose a couple of breaks—for instance, a micro-break every hour, and two larger breaks during the day—and put them in your calendar. For some of them, invite a colleague or a friend so you can use the time to catch up, brainstorm, and support each other.

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I appreciate your patience and dedication to read this overwhelming essay. I am glad you made it through the end. I hope I gave you a new tool that will help you to utilize your precious mental energy more efficiently.

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