Take a Break

It's good for you!

Hey Rewire Collective,

Welcome to this weeks’ newsletter! She’s the last of 2024, because ya girl needs a break. And so do you. Here’s the science behind why it’s good to take a break.

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Our brains need a break - make sure to take one. Created in https://BioRender.com.

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Work

Let’s talk about work. Work typically leads to some level of stress – or heightened arousal. This can be because of deadlines, co-workers, specific tasks, learning curves, lots of things! And it is fine if the stress is acute (short-term), and productive, meaning if gets you working, and once the work is done, you stop being stressed.

But if we never stop working, we never stop being stressed. This means we are constantly at a heightened level of awareness and in our fight-or-flight response. And our brains constantly working is not inexpensive. Our brain uses approximately 20% of our entire body's metabolic energy, even though it only accounts for 2% of our body’s mass¹. And that’s at rest! When our brain is working on memory or learning tasks, it’s caloric consumption can double¹.

And this shift in where our energy is going comes at a cost to the rest of the body. Long-term memory formation impairs survival in insects already undergoing an immune challenge¹. So, if you’re working in a hospital in winter and stressed about work, you’re probably going to get sick.

To make matters worse (in some ways), our brain tries to be as energy efficient as possible. So, if you’re stressed, and trying to work, the brain is going to prioritize using neural routes that are already formed and cost less energy¹: say bye to trying to develop any new habit!

My point here is that our brain functioning is not a given – it takes a lot of energy even at rest, and so when it is at work too often, other bodily aspects will suffer.

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Burn Out

Working our brains and bodies too much can lead to burnout, and burnout in turn changes how our brain functions!

Studies show that our visual and spatial abilities are impaired when we are burnt out and that this is due to changes in our automatic processing skills and executive functions². We see from EEG studies that even when performance on cognitive tasks is now worsened in individuals experiencing burn out, the way their brain is handling these tasks is different³. Their brains showed slower transitions when moving from one cognitive challenge to the next, and recruits more neurons, reflecting the need for more resources for the same task³. Attentional brain networks are also affected in burn out⁴. People experiencing burnout were less likely to pay attention to new and potentially important information, and their working-memory was impaired⁴. Changes in brain activity from parietal to frontal brain regions suggest that this is likely due to a loss of cognitive control necessary to incorporate new information into memory⁴. Interestingly, spending time with family was able to act as an intervention for burnout, both reducing the chance of it and supporting recovery from it².

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Tiny, More Frequent Breaks

So what can we do to avoid burn out and have a healthy relationship with work? Let’s start with these smaller breaks, like at lunchtime. These are actually really beneficial for us, both in terms of productivity and exhaustion⁵. Taking breaks during work hours leads to improved performance at work⁶!

It is not the length of these breaks that matters but the quality. Getting off your phone⁸ and away from your desk, or better yet, getting outside⁶, is crucial to having a break that restores your cognitive energy⁷. And physical activity⁹ during breaks is important too!

For more on strategic breaks – check out my past newsletter, or get a copy of Rewire!

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Longer, Less Frequent Breaks

So, what about long holidays? A lot of the benefits from long holidays appear to come from the reduced stress people are under when they are fully detached from work.

We can sleep better and our mood improves^10,11. Reduced stress and cognitive demands also means that our brain has energy to explore new ideas and patterns of firing^12,13. It might be easier to pick up a new habit because our brain isn’t in energy-saving mode and can take the time to carve new neural connections. Benefits also come from exploring new areas and taking part in bonding activities. This can cause the release of feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which again improve mood and sleep. And new experiences can encourage new neural pathways to fire, leading to more creativity¹².

There appears to be a physical health benefit too: in men who were already at risk of cardiovascular disease, taking an annual vacation reduced their risk of mortality by 32%¹⁴.

But beware: if you go on vacation and continue to work, your risk of burnout will not go away¹⁵!

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In seriousness, I hope you all get some well-deserved breaks over this holiday period, whether you are celebrating or not!

Until Next Year,

Nicole x

And if you have any requests for newsletters in the new year, let me know in the comments!

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References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959438822001623#

2. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.978566/full

3. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1194714/full

4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301051116300473

5. Korpela K, Kinnunen U, Geurts S, de Bloom J, Sianoja M. Recovery during Lunch Breaks: Testing Long-Term Relations with Energy Levels at Work. Scand J Work Organ Psychol. 2016.

6. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2022-90592-001

7. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/job.2109

8. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563215302703

9. https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jpah/12/1/article-p109.xml

10. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02678373.2018.1427816

11. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22213478/

12. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261517714000685?via%3Dihub

13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16834516/

14. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11020089/

15. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/article-abstract/2813914