Hello, everyone!
At a basic gut level most of us know that it is good to take a break and refresh ourselves rather than staying at the one activity for too long. The latest research about taking breaks as the secret to success might just capture people’s attention.
Practise improves performance and perfect practise can achieve excellent results. But doing too much practice might impede progress and could end up making things worse. Cognitive neuroscientists at the University of NSW in Sydney found that if you keep studying for many hours without a break you don’t get a learning benefit.
Not only does consolidation of memory occur when we sleep but the researchers are the first to show that it happens when we are awake.
It is commonly believed by scientists that the brain consolidates a new skill by making new connections between the neurons – a type of ‘re-wiring’ process known as neural plasticity.
Practising without a break appears to disrupt this consolidation process.
Brain breaks as mentioned allow time for consolidation, time to:
- breathe
- relax
- recharge
- refocus
Breaks energise, enthuse and re-ignite tired or busy minds. It is interesting to note that regular brain breaks are an important feature of accelerated learning programs.
This might be a timely reminder for you to stop what you are doing and have a stretch or get a glass of water. Move away from your chair and get some exercise.
Take a break! Live! Love! Laugh!
Roz Townsend
Roz Townsend is a recognised Australasian educator and meta coach and author of the book „The presenter within. Simple ideas for great presentations”. This past July, Roz Townsend visited Romania for the first time and had an interactive meeting with young professionals interested in improving their presentation skills. You can read here more about the trip to Romania, in part I of the interview that Roz Townsend gave exclusively for our blog.