Author: Joshua Payne
Editors: Justin Tai, Angela Pan, Linzi Yeung
Artist: Esther Chen
Everybody likes and needs breaks. However, breaks are often misunderstood and looked down upon, which can lead to perceived laziness for those who take them. Quite the opposite of this is true. Restorative breaks can improve mood and performance, giving people that little boost needed to get them through the day. This revelation leads to the question: What should these breaks look like?
Harvard researcher Francesca Gino analyzed more than two million test results from over half a million Danish schoolchildren aged 8 to 15, spanning 2,105 schools over four years. When the students had a 20 to 30-minute break before a test, their scores improved significantly. Alarmingly, “nearly forty percent of the nation's 16,000 school districts have either modified, deleted, or are considering deleting recess” and other restorative pauses for students in pursuit of higher test scores. Francesca Gino predicts that “if there were a break after every hour, test scores would improve over a day.”
DeskTime, a company that makes productivity-tracking software, claims that by observing the most productive 10% of users, they have found the golden ratio of work and rest—52 minutes of work and 17 minutes of rest. For a break to be effective, several conditions must be met. First, a break should enable psychological detachment from the work being done. Secondly, a 2016 study shows that hourly five-minute walking breaks boost energy levels, sharpen focus, and “[improve] mood throughout the day and [reduce] feelings of fatigue in the late afternoon.” Interestingly, research shows that taking a short walk outdoors is more rejuvenating than walking indoors. It shows signs of reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as lower stress levels, which are measured by cortisol in the body. Lastly, being with others has been shown to be more effective in reducing stress and improving mood. Avoid work-related topics when socializing during a break; instead, discuss hobbies and activities with a friend.
A replenishing break doesn’t need to be lengthy. Even breaks lasting a minute or less—what researchers call “microbreaks”—are effective. Before beginning a task, set a timer. Every twenty minutes, look at something twenty feet away for twenty seconds. This microbreak—coined the 20-20-20 rule—can rest your eyes and improve your posture, helping to fight fatigue. If you have a water bottle, consider using a smaller one, which can encourage you to take a short walk to refill it. Remember the three key elements of a good break: hydration, motion, and restoration. One of the simplest breaks of all is wiggling your body to reset your mind. Stand up for sixty seconds, shake your arms and legs, flex your muscles, rotate your core, and then sit back down. This causes endorphins to be released and helps reduce stress.
It is often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but social scientists are discovering that lunch is far more critical to one’s performance. Like walking breaks, lunch breaks require both psychological and physical detachment. Staying focused on work during lunch or using your phone for social media can intensify fatigue. However, shifting focus from work to non-work activities has the opposite effect. Longer lunch breaks can be beneficial, especially those taken away from the office. Furthermore, spending your lunch in a non-work environment or a space of relaxing activities is also a good idea.
As another form of break, naps enhance cognitive performance and promote mental and physical health. A famous NASA study conducted in 1994 found that pilots who napped for up to forty minutes showed a 34% improvement in reaction time and a twofold increase in alertness. Similarly, a study found that after a short nap, the alertness and performance of air traffic controllers improved significantly. Italian police officers who napped before their afternoon and evening shifts experienced 48% fewer traffic accidents than those who didn’t nap. Additionally, research at the University of California, Berkeley, found that people who napped outperformed those who didn’t in their ability to retain information. In another experiment, nappers were twice as likely to solve complex problems than people who hadn’t napped or spent time in other activities. The results of a 2018 Singaporean study suggest that 30-minute naps significantly improve memory. Several studies also show that napping boosts short-term and associative memory while improving overall health, including strengthening the immune system. A six-year study of 23,000 people in Greece found that individuals who napped were 37% less likely to die from heart disease. The benefits of napping are clear, but the question arises: How can one nap effectively?
Many people already take midday naps. In fact, a 2023 survey of over 3,000 adults in Spain found that about one-third of adults took regular midday naps. However, most people nap the wrong way. Naps in workplace settings often require peak performance immediately upon waking. Although thirty minutes or longer naps can produce long-term benefits, they can also cause “sleep inertia,” the groggy feeling after waking. However, extremely short naps of five minutes provide seemingly no benefits. The ideal nap length is between ten and twenty minutes, as these produce cognitive benefits from the moment of awakening and last nearly three hours.
There are three steps to taking the perfect nap.
First, identify the time in the afternoon when you feel the most sluggish—commonly referred to as the “trough,” a natural dip in energy and focus typically occurring between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. This is the ideal time to take a restorative nap. According to the Mayo Clinic, the best time for a nap is between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. However, you can chart your afternoon mood and energy levels to pinpoint your personal optimal nap time.
Second, you can enhance your nap’s effectiveness with a potent (and legal) drug: “the nappuccino.” A 2003 study divided participants into three groups and gave them a thirty-minute midafternoon break before testing their driving performance. One group received 200 milligrams of caffeine, another received a placebo pill, and the third received the same two hundred milligrams of caffeine as the first group with a brief nap. The caffeine-nap group performed the best. Since caffeine takes about twenty-five minutes to enter the bloodstream, they were getting a secondary boost from the drug by the time their naps ended. If you are not a coffee drinker, look for an alternative source of 200 milligrams of caffeine, or skip this step if you avoid caffeine altogether.
Third, set a timer for twenty-five minutes. This practice allows time to fall asleep and wake before sleep inertia sets in. Naps between ten and twenty minutes boost alertness and mental function without leaving you groggy.
Breaks matter—even the short ones can make a big difference. Vigilance breaks prevent mistakes, restorative breaks enhance performance, and lunch breaks and naps help us overcome the afternoon slump. Science makes it clear: Breaks are not a sign of laziness but of strength. People who take breaks are not slacking! On the contrary, properly timed and executed breaks are essential for success.
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