Take Breaks the Right Way: Recovery Is Part of the Work

If you never take breaks, you'll end up taking a long one against your will: burnout. But not every break restores you — scrolling is just a change of stimulus, not real recovery.

The break hierarchy

• Micro (1–2 min, hourly): Stand up, stretch, look out the window. 20-20-20 for your eyes.
• Short (5–10 min, every 60–90 min): Movement + water. The classic Pomodoro rhythm.
• Lunch (30+ min): Get away from your desk. Eating at your workstation doesn't count.

What makes a real break

Do the opposite of your work: screen work → gaze into the distance, move around. Sitting → standing. Input → silence. The feed is the opposite of a break: more input, more stimuli, zero recovery.

The science

Focus runs in roughly 90-minute waves (ultradian rhythms). If you take your break in the trough instead of pushing through, you ride the next wave from the top — that's energy management in practice.

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