Exactly How Long You Should Work Before Taking a Break

Chillax now and then at work — you’ll be more productive. (Photo: Stocksy)

You might think it makes sense to hammer through a project until the work is done, but productivity experts say that might actually work against you.

A new video from The Science of Us breaks down how pushing through a project with no breaks can slow you down. The best way to get it all done, quickly and efficiently? Take naps and avoid working for more than 90 minutes at a time.

The video cites research from German scientists that studied some of the country’s best violinists and found that most of them did their practice sessions in 60- to 90-minute intervals. The best players were also more likely to take afternoon naps of 20 to 30 minutes.

A 2012 study published in the journal PLOS One also found that people who took breaks and viewed images of puppies and kittens were better at performing tasks that required focus than those who didn’t look at images of baby animals. Another study from the University of Michigan discovered that people who took a 60-minute nap spent more time trying to solve a task than non-nappers, and were more willing to be frustrated to complete it.

And research published in the journal Cognition found that while people who continue to plug away at a task performed less effectively over time, those who took two brief breaks saw no drop in their performance.

While it’s probably not advisable to start snoozing on the job, it’s great to know that taking regular coffee or kitten breaks at work is actually doing you some good.

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