When we are writing a research paper, we need to find long stretches of focused time to get that writing done. Yet, even if we find them, can we really sustain intense focus during two or more hours? Today’s post looks at a research-backed and often overlooked tool in our productivity toolbox: the micro-break. To top it up, I provide two “monday mantras” to make your micro-breaks even more effective.

We tend to think of research as rational, mechanistic, sterile, orderly. However, there are many things about research that are random, chaotic, and require loads of creativity (writing papers being only one example among many). Thus, it sometimes makes sense to think about research as an art… and sometimes we can reuse tricks and advice from the arts, to make better science. In this brief post, I give you a couple of those, from a well-known artist and writer, in the form of two Monday Mantras.