Have you ever found yourself sitting in front of your desk and 3 in the afternoon, watching the clock on your computer tick away, wishing that lunch had been just been a few minutes longer so that you could have finished recharging your batteries? We’ve all been there, lamenting our lack of energy and focus and thinking that the entire thing could be solved with just another little break.

A group of Stanford researchers believe that we are mostly fooling ourselves.

In a paper published this week in Psychological Science, the researchers challenge a long-held theory that willpower – defined as the ability to resist temptation and stay focused on a demanding task – is a limited resource. Scientists have argued that when willpower is drained, the only way to restore it is by recharging our bodies with rest, food or some other physical distraction that takes you away from whatever is burning you out.

Not so, says the Stanford team. Instead, they’ve found that a person’s mindset and personal beliefs about willpower determine how long and how well they’ll be able to work on a tough mental exercise.

So maybe we can “will” ourselves into having more willpower, but breaks often serve a purpose beyond just restoring focus. Taking a break, walking around, thinking about something different can help us regain perspective on a task and see a problem from an entirely different angle. So maybe you don’t need quite as many breaks as you think you do, maybe you should need to use your break time for what it’s good for.

Read Do you need a break in order to keep working? No, you don’t (Via Bakadesuyo) (Images)

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