Why your student should be taking homework breaks

How long does your student spend on homework each night?

The standard guideline for homework is that students should be spending approximately 10 minutes a night doing homework per grade level. So, that equates to an hour each night for a 6th grader, and 2 hours for a senior in high school.

Unfortunately, many students spend far more time on homework than this, which is frustrating for them and their parents.

So, what can we do to help students work more efficiently?

Somewhat counter-intuitively, one answer is to take more frequent breaks!

Study breaks provide a number of important benefits, including…

Less procrastination.
When homework seems challenging, students often put off starting it until as late as possible. However, if they know they’re only committing to work for 30 minutes or so, and then they will get another break, it’s often easier to get started. 

More focus.
When there’s a clear distinction between work time & break time, it’s easier to distinguish between “work time” and “break time” activities (texting, etc.). It’s also easier for students to resist tempting distractions if they know they’ll be able to do whatever they want on their next break… instead of until all your homework is finished.

More efficiency.
Have you ever noticed that you’re more efficient when you know you have a break coming up soon?  If you know that you’re going to get a break as soon as you finish this assignment, you’ll want to work more quickly and efficiently than if you know that you have several more assignments to do after this one and there’s no clear end in sight.

5 common study break mistakes…

• Not taking breaks.  This might not seem like a problem…After all, won’t students finish their work faster if they go straight through without breaks?  Not necessarily. Students who don’t take study breaks during homework time often put off starting their work, because they know that once they start they’re going to have to keep going until it’s finished. They also tend to engage in more distracting activities during their work time, because there’s no distinction for them between work and breaks.
• Not leaving your study space for breaks.  When students take breaks in the same space where they’re studying, the line between work and break becomes blurred. Study “breaks” turn into constant distractions and it becomes difficult to focus on work because they’re continuously fighting the urge to do something more pleasant or fun, like texting a friend or watching a Netflix episode.
• Taking breaks that are too long.  It’s easy to get distracted during study breaks, and put off going back to resume your work.  But study breaks are like naps…short ones are very refreshing, but long ones can leave you feeling groggy & unmotivated.  Some of our students find it’s helpful to think of these as “study pauses”, to remind themselves that they’re just pausing work for a few minutes, not stopping completely.
• Waiting to take a break until you’re frustrated.  If students wait to take a break until they’re frustrated with their work, it’s training them to respond to frustration by giving up. Instead of taking breaks when they’re sick of working, it’s often more effective to set a goal for what they’ll do before their next break, and then celebrate by taking a break once they’ve achieved that goal.
• Starting with your least favorite work.  If you’re going to have to read a really hard, tedious history chapter as soon as your study break is over, it will be really tempting to extend that break indefinitely and put off going back to work. Sometimes, choosing a short, easy, and/or enjoyable assignment to do right after each break, can make getting back to work more motivating. Then, you can tackle the challenging assignment second.

How to take effective study breaks

The best study breaks are short periods of time during which studying is paused, and students leave their study space to engage in a different activity that is physically & mentally recharging.

Here are some guidelines for taking effective breaks…

• When you sit down to start your work, decide what you want to accomplish before your next break (e.g. finish my math worksheet)
• Leave your study space to take your break
• Keep breaks short (5-15 min), so it’s easy to get back to work afterward
• Set a timer during breaks, so you don’t lose track of time
• Choose study break activities that recharge your brain, make you feel happy & energetic, and are easy to stop doing when it’s time to go back to work

Some examples of “recharging” activities to do during study breaks include…

• Walking the dog, or playing with the cat
• Getting a quick, healthy snack & a drink of water
• Jumping rope, jumping on a trampoline, or doing sit-ups or push-ups for 5-10 minutes
• Drawing, singing, painting, or playing a musical instrument for 5-10 minutes
• Putting on your favorite songs and spending 5-10 minutes organizing your room

In contrast, highly engaging activities like watching an episode of your favorite show on Netflix or YouTube are not ideal for study breaks, because they’re so fun and immersive that they’re hard to stop doing and often leave students feeling more distracted and unfocused (and less interested in continuing homework) after the break than they were beforehand.

Saving these difficult-to-stop activities for after homework is completed, instead of doing them during study breaks, can make it easier to keep breaks short & effective, and also serves as a “celebration” for after homework.

Next steps for parents

After sharing these ideas with our students, we like to talk through a series of questions about how they’re using breaks right now, and what they could do to make their breaks more effective. 

You can ask your student similar questions to learn more about how they’re using study breaks. Some helpful questions could include…

• What is their current approach to study breaks?  
• How often are they currently taking breaks, and how is this working for them?
• Which, if any, of the 5 study break mistakes sound most familiar to them?
• What types of activities would be best for recharging their energy levels?
• What activities are really hard to stop at the end of a break?
• Which of the ideas in this article would be most helpful for them?

We hope this helps homework time to run more smoothly & efficiently!

Join 11,000+ parents helping their students earn better grades with less stress!

About The Author

Dr. Maggie Wray is a certified ADHD Coach & Academic Life Coach with a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell and a Bachelor’s degree in Astrophysics from Princeton. She founded Creating Positive Futures in 2012 to help high school and college students learn how to earn better grades with less stress. Her team of dedicated coaches is on a mission to empower students to develop the mindset, organization, time management, and study skills they need to achieve their goals.