The Power of Recovery: Why Breaks Make You Better
Anyone who works out understands that muscles cannot perform continuously without rest. I’m an avid Peloton rider, and I alternate high-intensity interval training (HIIT) rides with recovery rides or walks to give my body a break. Interestingly, HIIT also gives me a mental reset. Because I must focus fully on the effort, everything else fades away. I become completely present in the moment — a state often described as flow (Seligman, 2008).
But recovery doesn’t have to involve exercise. A recovery break is anything that allows your mind to step away from what you were doing.
Imagine you’ve had a demanding morning at work — a tough conversation or a complex report — and a colleague invites you to lunch. You enjoy good food, take a short walk in fresh air, and share a genuine laugh. That simple break can reset your energy and mood.
Earlier in my career, lunches like that were routine. Some days, knowing we’d grab lunch together was what got me out of bed. I returned feeling lighter and with a renewed sense of belonging — a powerful stress reliever in itself.
As I advanced professionally, however, those shared lunches became rare. Colleagues seemed to have no time for “nonessential” activities. Yet skipping breaks doesn’t increase performance; it quietly erodes it.
Sustained wellbeing and performance require recovery at three levels (Ben-Shahar, 2013):
1. Micro Recovery
These are short activities you can weave into your day without disrupting your schedule:
· An uninterrupted lunch
· A brief walk outside
· Listening to your favorite song without multitasking
· Five minutes of chair yoga or mindfulness
I used to walk to a nearby café with a colleague in the afternoon. Whether or not the coffee was necessary, the walk and conversation were. Even small pauses create space to reset.
2. Mezzo Recovery
These require dedicated daily or weekly time.
Sleep is foundational. A good night’s sleep strengthens both mental and physical performance. It consolidates memories and restores our ability to learn. The hippocampus — the brain’s short-term memory storage — fills up throughout the day. Because its capacity is limited, learning declines as the day progresses. Ever felt irritable after a restless night? Sleep clears and resets this system so we can pay attention and make sound decisions (Walker, 2017).
Evenings without work also count as mezzo recovery. Time with family or friends — without checking email — is not indulgent; it’s restorative. I once had a colleague who left her work phone in the car every evening. It didn’t harm her career. If anything, it strengthened her reputation for clarity and boundaries.
3. Macro Recovery
Macro recovery involves extended resets — vacations where you truly disconnect.
I learned this lesson the hard way. One Easter weekend, I took a short seaside trip. The following Tuesday, we had a meeting with C-suite executives, and we were waiting for sign-off on our presentation. When my manager’s manager didn’t respond to emails, we panicked. I remember sitting in my hotel room, texting anxiously about what might be wrong.
On Sunday evening, she replied briefly: She had simply forgotten that Monday had been Patriots’ Day in New England – a holiday that coincided with Easter that year.
My only memory of that holiday is worry. Hers was likely rest. If a senior executive can disconnect, why can’t we?
The key to effective recovery breaks is focus.
Not music while scanning emails.
Not vacation while checking Slack.
Not lunch while replying under the table.
Just as muscles grow during rest, clarity and resilience grow during mental detachment. Recovery isn’t indulgent. It’s strategic.
The question isn’t whether you can afford to take breaks. It’s whether you can afford not to. What are your recovery habits?
Notes:
Ben-Shahar, T. (2013, March 6). Happiness 101 with Tal Ben-Shahar. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxsPl2WClHg
Seligman, M. (2008, July 1). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Walker, M. (2017, October 3). Why we sleep. Scribner