Of course, the brain always needs rest. After an hour of productive work, you need to rest for 10 minutes.

I usually take a quick 10-20 minute nap after lunch to help me stay sharp and productive in the afternoon.

Absolutely! Scheduling breaks is a non-negotiable for me when it comes to staying productive. I follow a loose version of the Pomodoro Technique – which means: work for about 50 minutes, then take a 10-minute break. During those breaks, I step away from the screen, stretch, or take a quick walk to reset. I also plan a longer break around lunchtime to completely unplug, which keeps me refreshed for the second half of the day. Another little hack: I use calendar reminders to block out "break time" so I don’t get too carried away with back-to-back tasks.

I think it's important to treat breaks as seriously as meetings. I started scheduling three 15-min 'brain reset' blocks daily; one for stretching, one for fresh air, one for literally doing nothing. My productivity went up 2x and I stopped feeling guilty about pausing.