In Are You Fully Charged, Tom Rath tells us:
“The answer to this question may lie in DeskTime, a software application that meticulously tracks employees’ time use throughout the day. When the makers of this software looked at the most productive 10 percent of their 36,000-employee user base, they made some surprising discoveries. What the most productive people have in common is an ability to take effective breaks. These elite 10 percent work for 52 minutes at a time, then take a 17-minute break before diving back into their work. According to Julia Gifford, who works with DeskTime and wrote the report, the reason this pattern helps productivity is that the top 10 percent treat the periods of working time like a sprint. ‘They make the most of those 52 minutes by working with intense purpose, but then rest up to be ready for the next burst,’ Gifford wrote. She also noted that during the 17 minutes of break, the group was more likely to go for a walk or tune out rather than checking email or Facebook.“
In Peak Performance, Brad Stulberg & Steve Magness tell us:
“While the exact work-to-rest ratio depends on the demands of the job and individual preferences, the overall theme is clear: alternating between blocks of 50 to 90 minutes of intense work and recovery breaks of 7 to 20 minutes enables people to sustain the physical, cognitive, and emotional energy required for peak performance. This ebb and flow runs counter to the all-too-common constant grind of either perpetually working in an ‘in-between zone’ of moderately hard work or working at the utmost intensity nonstop. Neither of these more traditional approaches is ideal. The former leads to under-performance. The latter leads to physical, cognitive, and emotional fatigue and, eventually, burnout.”
Wow! The most productive 10% of 36,000 employees worked hard for 52 minutes and then took a 17-minute break. During those breaks, they were more likely to engage in effective stress-relieving activities.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be more productive and avoid burnout.
For this reason, I have implemented a 50-minute on, 10-minute off work-to-rest ratio. That allows me to do my focused, deep work and reach some of my other aspirations and behaviors like walking 5,649 steps, meditating, journaling, etc.
