Afternoon Slumps

Bev Sykes / CC

An afternoon slump in productivity and attention is common and over 200 studies have proven it. Or have they? Research challenges this notion and a study found that the so-called ‘afternoon slump’ is not what we think it is. Researchers (University of Toronto) monitored more than 16,000 psychology students over four months. They found that the students worked well at any time of the day or night, provided they took breaks and switched up what they were doing. A slump comes when you’ve been doing a task for about 50 continuous minutes — no matter the time of day. Researchers aren’t suggesting that we don’t get brain drain, but that it is not for the reason once believed.