How you label a break changes what happens in your head during it. People who saw their break as falling between two separate tasks, rather than in the middle of one task, dwelled less on the work while resting and did better once they went back.
The research is by Rebecca L. Chae of Santa Clara University, Kaitlin Woolley of Cornell University and Marissa A. Sharif of the University of Pennsylvania. It was published online in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General on November 3, 2025, after circulating as a working paper.
The idea is simple. A break in the middle of something feels like an open loop, so the unfinished task keeps nagging. Splitting the same work into two labeled parts makes the first part feel closed.
Same task, same break, different label
A pilot study asked 126 university students on winter break to think of it either as part of the academic year or as the gap between two semesters. The semester group reported less rumination about school, scoring 52.6 versus 64.3 on a 100-point scale.
In Experiment 1, 398 online participants did a word search. Half were told they faced one puzzle of 10 words, half that they faced two puzzles of five words. The words and the 45-second nature video they watched as a break were identical. Rumination during the break was about half as high in the two-task group, 20.2 versus 39.7. That group also reported less stress and anxiety, though no difference in boredom.
Experiments 2 and 3 moved to exercise. With 784 participants doing ten short seated exercises, labeling them as an arm set and an ab set reduced rumination during the break compared with one list of ten. Experiment 3 found the effect held whether or not people knew a break was coming.
Less dwelling, more words found
Experiment 4 tested performance. Among 395 participants, those in the two-task framing found 2.40 words per minute after the break, against 2.02 for the single-task group. Before the break the two groups performed alike. Statistical analysis showed reduced rumination carried part of the effect.
Experiment 5, with 760 participants, varied the break itself. After a passive break watching a scenic video, the two-task framing again helped, 1.70 versus 1.41 words per minute. After an active break, an interactive 360-degree tour of Buckingham Palace that demanded attention, the framing made no difference. A pretest had shown people ruminate less during that kind of active break, which fits the proposed mechanism.
The authors note limits. Breaks were assigned by the researchers to keep conditions identical, and the effect sizes were small to moderate. In Experiment 5 they also observed a marginal advantage for the two-task group before the break, which they do not think is reliable. They add that active and passive breaks may differ in ways beyond rumination.
The effect did not depend on finishing the first part. Participants who ran out of time before the break still benefited from the two-task label, which suggests the sense of closure is what matters, not actual completion.
Study Details:
- Title: Categorizing Tasks Around a Break Reduces Rumination and Improves Task Performance
- Authors: Rebecca L. Chae, Kaitlin Woolley, Marissa A. Sharif
- Journal: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
- Publication Date: November 3, 2025
- DOI: 10.1037/xge0001843