Help! It Turns Out Breaks Make You More Productive

The formula that Andreasen and others uncovered is that to maximize productivity, the brain needs to balance spending time focusing on a single task with stepping away and relaxing.26 It’s hard work plus a break that enables our brains to process and play with information that optimizes our brains.

Great performers, Ericsson found, generally work in chunks of 60 to 90 minutes separated by short breaks.