Taking a Break

 When was the last time you took a break? A proper break?

“What kind of break?”, you may ask. 

It’s an excellent question. Because not all breaks are created equal. Different breaks can solve different issues. Even if you didn’t realize you had issues!

You may have noticed (or not!) that I’ve been absent from cyberspace for a few months. I didn’t necessarily choose the timing or the length, rather it chose me. And it did that because I pushed myself into overwhelm. And as someone with Au-ADHD, that is the same thing as pushing myself to paralysis. 

Stepping back earlier, being more generous and compassionate to myself…these are both things that, in retrospect, could have saved me a lot of brain churn and frustration. Because the truth is that I needed a break. 

Back to the types of breaks we all need to thrive and be our best selves. To function at peak levels, we need short breaks and long breaks. Think of it as your mental maintenance schedule, just like your car needs both quick tune-ups and major overhauls.

Short Breaks: A Quick Cognitive Reset 

These micro-recoveries happen throughout your day, lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to 15 minutes. They're not about checking social media or grabbing another coffee, they're about intentional neural restoration.

The 20-20-20 Rule for anyone on a computer: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This simple practice prevents eye strain while giving your focused attention circuits a moment to reset.

Movement Micro-Breaks: Stand up, stretch, or take a brief walk every hour. Research shows that walking boosts creative thinking by up to 60%. Even a two-minute stroll to the water cooler can unlock solutions that seemed impossible while sitting.

Breathing Breaks: Three deep breaths might sound trivial, but they activate your parasympathetic nervous system, lowering cortisol, the stress hormone, and sharpening focus. Try the 4-5-6 technique: inhale for 4 counts, hold for 5, exhale for 6.

Long Breaks: Your Deep Recovery Protocol

There are two categories here: (i) your weekends and your vacations, and (ii) mental health pauses and sabbaticals. Neither of these types of longer breaks are ‘luxuries’. They are essential for preventing burnout and maintaining peak performance over months and years, not just days and weeks.

The Weekend Detox: True weekends mean disconnecting from work communication. Research from the University of California shows that people who check work emails on weekends experience higher stress levels throughout the entire following week.

Vacation Detach: Productivity actually increases after proper vacations. The key word is "proper", meaning truly unplugging, not just working from a beach chair or a lounger with a pretty view.

The Extended Break Renaissance: Month-long breaks, what I call mental health pauses, and year-long sabbaticals are becoming the secret weapon of high performers. 

Adobe, Intel, and countless startups now offer sabbatical programs because they've discovered what academics have known for decades: extended time away doesn't just prevent burnout, it catalyzes breakthrough thinking.

A month away from your routine can create "cognitive flexibility." This means you experience some brain rewiring because you are not in your typical routine. Your brain literally rewires itself when removed from familiar patterns. 

Stefan Sagmeister, the renowned designer, takes a year-long sabbatical every seven years and credits these breaks with his most innovative work. The pattern isn't unique to creative disciplines. All types of academics, for whom sabbaticals are the norm, usually return from sabbaticals with solutions to problems that stumped them for months.

The Four Phases of Long Breaks:

• Week 1: Decompression - Your mind finally stops racing as cortisol, the stress hormone, levels normalize

• Week 2-3: Exploration - You begin engaging with new ideas, places, or skills without deadline pressure

• Week 4+: Integration - Fresh perspectives start connecting with your personal and professional challenges in unexpected ways

The magic isn't in escaping your work, it's in returning to it with a fundamentally shifted perspective. 

The Productivity Paradox

Here's what seems backward but isn't: taking more breaks often leads to getting more done. Microsoft Japan discovered this when they implemented a four-day work week and saw productivity jump by almost 40%. The secret isn't working more hours, it's making the hours you work count more.

Skipping breaks leads to "brownout", the place where we're technically functioning but at reduced capacity. It's like running your phone at 20% battery all day instead of charging it. You can do it, but everything takes longer and nothing works quite right. 

This is where I was before my mental health break - technically showing up, but scraping the bottom of the creative and productivity barrel. It got to the point where, even though I was forcing myself, I just couldn’t keep up with the demands on me. 

The relief of taking time was exquisite. Awkward, because I knew I was ‘dropping the ball’, but wonderful. I had to stop the negative chatter in my head and accept that I needed this break whether I wanted it or not. And that is something to consider. Next time, I’d like to plan a break rather than having one happen out of necessity. 

Your Break Implementation Strategy

Start Small: Begin with one 5-minute break every hour. Set a gentle timer and honor it religiously for one week. Notice if there is a difference in your afternoon energy levels.

Plan Your Pauses: Schedule breaks like important meetings. If it's not on your calendar, it won't happen, especially when deadlines loom.

Create Break Rituals: Make your pauses intentional. Step outside, do some stretches, practice gratitude, or simply sit in silence. The key is shifting your mental state, not just stopping work.

Protect Your Long Breaks: Treat your weekends and vacations as non-negotiable recovery time. Think of them not as rewards for working hard, rather as prerequisites for working well.

Consider the Extended Break: If possible, plan for a month-long break every few years or negotiate a sabbatical with your employer. Start the conversation early. Many companies are more open to extended leave than you might expect, especially when you frame it as professional development. Use the time for deep learning, creative projects, or simply extended rest. The key is complete disconnection from routine responsibilities.

The Bottom Line

In a world that celebrates the grind, choosing to rest is a radical act of self-respect and strategic thinking. Your breaks aren't time stolen from productivity, they're investments in it. The question isn't whether you can afford to take breaks. It's whether you can afford not to.

Take a break. You've earned it, and more importantly, you need it.

Restfully, 

Dr. Jenna