How Taking Better Breaks Can Improve Your Focus, Productivity, and Creative Thinking
Photo by Luisa Brimble on Unsplash
The first time I attended a deep-work co-working session, the structure made immediate sense. The session was divided into three cycles of 50 minutes of work followed by a 10-minute break. It felt logical — after all, they had to account for the varying needs of participants.
I was already familiar with the Pomodoro Technique (25 minutes of focused work + 5-minute break, with a longer break after four cycles). I had tried it in the past, but it didn’t quite work for me. Sometimes, I need at least 15 minutes just to settle in and get into the zone.
So, compared to Pomodoro, these longer sessions felt more aligned with my working style. But then, during the session I felt interrupted when the break was announced. I was in flow and wanted to keep going. I even skipped the first break. But in the next session, I noticed a dip in focus. I wasn’t as much in flow.
When I was designing the structure for Sacred Hours, I found myself conflicted. I knew breaks were important, but how should I structure them? And how could I help others see the value of breaks, instead of treating them as interruptions?
Eventually, I stuck with the 50–10 structure as it accommodates different attention spans. To set the stage, I now share this quote in the opening of each session:
“The urge to push onwards includes a big component of impatience about not being finished, about not being productive enough, about never again finding such an ideal time for work. If you keep going, you’ll reinforce your worst impulses, whereas walking away helps strengthen the muscle of patience that will permit you to return to your project, day after day.”
— Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
Mini-breaks aren’t just nice to have, they are essential. After about 25–50 minutes of focused work, our concentration naturally begins to decline. Pushing through might feel productive in the moment, but it subtly erodes the quality of our thinking, creativity, and decision-making. Breaks help us reset and return with sharper focus.
Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, the psychologist behind the 10,000-hour rule, emphasized this too: “To maximize gains from long-term practice, individuals must avoid exhaustion and must limit practice to an amount from which they can completely recover on a daily or weekly basis.”
And that’s hard to do when the world around us seems to be constantly achieving something. Every day brings a new productivity system, another tip, another win someone is sharing. The urge to “squeeze in just a little more” work can feel compelling, like we’re staying on top of things. But often, that’s the treadmill we can’t seem to get off. And the harder we run, the more burned out we feel.
Jonathan Malesic, in his book The End of Burnout, writes about a conversation with a monk at the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, New Mexico. The monks work for three hours a day, ending at 12:40 PM. When he asked Fr. Simeon what he does if his work feels unfinished at the bell, the monk replied: “You get over it.”
That stuck with me.
Through all of this, I’ve come to believe there are three strong reasons to take breaks:
Breaks don’t kill flow, they help you return to it.
By practicing the art of pausing and resuming, we reduce the impact of both internal and external interruptions. We train ourselves to re-enter focus mode more easily.Breaks let you run a marathon, not just one sprint.
University of Illinois psychology professor Alejandro Lleras puts it this way: “Deactivating and reactivating your goals allows you to stay focused.” His research suggests that when facing long tasks, brief breaks help maintain concentration over time.Breaks create space for insight.
Our best ideas often come when we’re not trying. Whether it’s during a walk, a shower, or while daydreaming, your brain continues working in the background. Breaks also offer a moment to zoom out, to reassess whether we’re solving the right problem in the right way. Even a short pause before restarting nudges us to reconnect with our larger objective.
In one Sacred Hours session, one person felt the need for a break after around 40 minutes. While we can’t tailor the group rhythm to everyone in a co-working setting, you absolutely can personalize your own break structure.
Here are a few break formats to consider:
Pomodoro (25–5): Great for those with shorter attention spans or just starting out.
90–20 (my personal favorite): A 90-minute deep work session followed by a 20-minute break. This aligns with our body’s natural rhythm (which persists not just when we are sleeping, but also when we are awake), discovered by sleep researchers William Dement and Nathan Kleitman.
Planned intermissions: If time-blocking your day doesn’t work for your job, try scheduling two 15-minute breaks — one mid-morning and one mid-afternoon. Especially don’t skip the 3 PM break — that’s the least productive time of the day for most people.
As for what you do in those breaks? That’s up to you. Walk, eat, chat, nap (my mid-afternoon go-to), listen to music, doodle, meditate, or even binge something silly online.
Just pause. Recharge. Let your mind stretch.
So, what kind of break will you start with?
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