Plenty of people brag about their long work hours. About how little sleep they get. And how they always need to be connected in an effort to increase productivity. But are these people doing themselves any good? Or are they actually being less productive? The exact thing they hope to improve. And how does this impact their health? More and more evidence points to the benefits and importance of taking a break.
Trends in Work Hours
Over the last century work hours have decreased in most countries. This is parallel to economic growth, meaning people in poorer countries tend to work more than people in richer countries. The average weekly work hours in the United States is 36, while it’s 46 in India and roughly 30 in western European countries.
But this is a far cry from the 15 hour work week that 1930’s economist John Keynes predicted we would be working due to technology. In fact, lower work weeks of today are likely due to improvements in labour conditions as opposed to improved technology. Technology can be helpful but it can also be distracting, bombarding us with emails, information and notifications. Most of which we can do without.
Despite improvement in technology, productivity hasn’t increased. It’s possible we may even be less efficient given all the distractions technology brings. This is called the “productivity paradox”, which is used to describe the advancement of technology without advancement in productivity. It’s possible there may be a lag of years before productivity increases due to technology. Or it could be some technology isn’t really helpful (i.e. social media). Either way, there is no immediate increase in productivity due to the introduction of a new technology.
The Problem with Powering Through
Most people power through work. Always doing. Whether it’s working on the computer for long hours, hustling between meetings or eating lunch at the desk while working. While that may seem productive, it doesn’t leave time for your brain to relax and recover, which is a crucial for creativity and productivity.
When you’re focused on a task, it’s like lifting weights. Your brain is working and to do so it requires energy. And just like lifting weights, it will get tired. You can’t keep doing endless bicep curls and neither can your brain be on all the time.
It’s not exactly clear when a person’s focus starts to decline. Some suggest performance goes down as early as eight minutes. While it likely differs from person to person, and context, there’s agreement that 90 minutes is the maximum one can maintain focus for.
Additional studies indicate that attention spans are getting shorter. In the past twenty years, attention spans have decreased from two and a half minutes to 40 seconds. This doesn’t mean that one can’t work for longer, it’s that we’re more easily distracted than before. And once distracted it can take upwards of 20 minutes to get back on task. The chances of being distracted also increase the more fatigued your mind is.
From Buch et al. Consolidation of human skill linked to waking hippocampo-neocortical replay 2021
The Power of Breaks
To help maintain your focus, it’s important to take breaks. Breaks are different from interruptions. Interruptions, or distractions, are unintentional and can take you off task. Whereas breaks are intentional, and you decide when you take them. For example, if you’re writing, taking a break at the end of a section or paragraph makes sense. A point at which it’s easy to come back and resume.
Taking a break during work or studying can increase attention, memory, energy and performance when returning to the task. It’s believed even short breaks help as it gives the brain time to process what you were doing before the break. It’s also important to unplug from work outside of work hours. People who can unplug from work have more restful sleep and reduced stress compared to people who don’t.
The best breaks are ones that take your mind away from the task at hand. Going for lunch with your boss may not be much of a break if it’s work-related or you’re spending brain power watching what you say. While watching cute puppy videos may be relaxing, scrolling through social media can lead to emotional exhaustion.
Breaks less than ten minutes can be effective. But longer breaks may be needed following exhaustive focus. Ideally, it’s best to take a break before you reach that point. Also, breaks earlier in the work shift seem to aid in recovery more. Most likely because they happen before you get exhausted from the day. And getting away from the workplace and going outside and/or getting exercise can be the best type of breaks.
It’s Not Just Work
It’s not just work that people power through. It’s life in general. More moments of your day are likely filled with being occupied than in years past. We fill every moment of the day. From listening to podcasts while driving, watching TV and scrolling through social media at the same time or looking at your phone while in the washroom, this creates a situation where the brain is always on.
For many people, these distractions are a way to avoid being alone with their own thoughts. When people have down time, what do most do? They pick up their phone and start scrolling. And the more a person becomes accustomed to these distractions, the less comfortable they’re likely to be with their own thoughts. This may be more common in younger generations who have grown up with more ways to be distracted.
A review of studies reported that many people would rather do menial tasks than sit quietly for a short time. In one of the reviewed studies, people would rather give themselves small shocks than be with their thoughts. However, being connected with your thoughts can be a healthy way forward.
Daydreaming
Many of us were probably told as kids to stop daydreaming. That it wasn’t of any help and daydreamers go nowhere. But being alone with one’s thoughts and letting your mind wander can be beneficial. Take a step back and ask yourself when do you come up with your best ideas? When you’re working? Watching TV? Or do they come to you when you’re on a walk with no real purpose, lying in bed, in the shower or staring out the window? Most people find their ideas pop into their head when they least expect it.
That’s because they’ve given their brain a chance to rest and process the information collected during the day. This is hard to do when your connected to everything all at once, all of the time. Daydreaming, thinking about something other than what you’re doing, can improve creativity, increase pain tolerance, reduce anxiety and help you navigate through life challenges. Athletes and performers often daydream, which is commonly known as visualization.
However, some forms of daydreaming can feed into anxiety. Thinking of negative thoughts and worrying about the future can increase stress and anxiety. This has been termed maladaptive daydreaming. In contrast, daydreaming about enjoyable and positive things is the key and can result in daydreams being pleasurable. And the best times to daydream are when your mind isn’t really occupied such as on a walk or while brushing your teeth (more tips on how to daydream are here).
So next time you’re powering through a project or scrolling through your phone, take break and let your mind wander. You’ll find you return to your task energized and more focused.
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