Structuring Breaks
Breaks are important, if you study for too long there begins to be overload on your brain. At this time you start having diminishing returns, which means that even though you are putting the same amount of information into your brain you are remembering less and less as you continue without a break. The problem with knowing when you should take a break and when you should push yourself is that every person is different. We may have similarities but ultimately we need breaks at different times or when we reach certain levels of frustration.
The only way to know best is by trial and error; this means you HAVE to try different methods and times. The old saying goes you don't know what you don't try and this really rings true in this circumstance. People are often surprised on what they find works best for them in the realm of breaks. Many find themselves needing more breaks then they would have thought or vise versa. It’s important to use your found results towards a more ideal break system. By this I mean that if you are finding more frequent breaks, for example, are helping attention span and productivity, don't settle with this. Try pushing it further to the point where you are finding the results are dwindling and then back track.
Let's look at this through an example:
Brad can study optimally for 1 hour before the returns on this study start to diminish. Let's think of it like this, for every 5 minutes that Brad studies he remember 5 units of knowledge. After the one hour mark he can continue to study but he only remembers 2 units of knowledge now for every 5 minutes of studying. The 1 hour mark would be Brad's point of diminishing returns. If he continues to study for 2 hours he will retain 84 units of knowledge (blue). Brad also has the choice to take a break at the 1 hour mark. He takes a 15 minute break to let his brain recharge, during this period he is gaining 0 units of knowledge, however when he returns to studying for the remaining 45 minutes he will do so at full capacity and once again remember 5 units of knowledge for every 5 minutes of studying (red). As you can see with this approach Brad remembers more units of knowledge with the break (105 vs 84) than if he tried to study for 2 hours straight. Observe the chart below to see how that works.
Obviously in the real world it is much harder to quantify how much knowledge you are retaining per minute spent studying. You will have to do your best to internally evaluate what you are capable of through trial and error. Often when you feel yourself getting distracted this is a good sign you might need a break. The length of break can also vary based on what you need to recharge. Also of important note is that you can improve upon your ability to study! You might only be able to study 1 hour at a time right now, but you can likely increase that with slow but gradual progress.