I've just been reading a book about the best way to study (anything to avoid real work ;) ) It suggests that it is better to work in bursts of 20 minutes and then take a 5 minute break to do something different. So my (rather banal) question is what do YOU do in those five minutes to recharge your batteries?

Well, sad to say, I do housework. It's the only way it gets done, and the only time I feel like doing it i.e. as a break from study.

Don't know about the 5 mins, but I found a list of things to do online when I'm bored or just not working...

Go for a walk, have a nap, have a bath, phone a friend, go shopping, watch a movie, read a book, play loud music, visit a friend, make something, tidy up, look at photos, take a trip somewhere new.

Of course, difficult to do if you're in a lab environment... but you can do some of these things virtually... :)

Mostly, I move rooms... I tend to take more than 5 mins, though... more like 15 mins but then I work for longer than 20 mins, more like an hour or so... I do things like take coffee, dream, read a book for a bit, doodle, look out the window, call friends, surf the net (better if you do something specific, though), play mahjong.

yah i think working in short burts is a good idea. i think i tend to do that aswell. but then don't know what to do during my 5-10min break. maybe i will start leaving the study room and going for a little walk in the garden or something... i will try that tommorow

I tend to be working away then all of a sudden just get up and wander off. Sometimes I will know why and secretly I have been thinking about making tea for a while and then whoo! just get up and off. Other times I can be walking off from my desk and not have a clue where I am going. Generally when can't rememeber which file to put work in when I am saving something (even though have been saving every ten mins for however long!)I know it is break time. I am not disciplined enought to take regular breaks - I seem to be either on a permanent break or working all the time... !!

I play a lot of games of scrabble on facebook. It's normally open in another browser so on my breaks I go and have a look if my opponents have had their turns yet.

Get away from the computer - walk into town (if you can) and do something functional (i.e. food shopping) while you're at it. Then get back to work.