How long should your work blocks be?

We're human, not robots. Marathon-like workdays of 12 hours are likely not the most effective route to success for the majority of us. Prolonged periods of intense mental effort can lead to fatigue, which results in a dip in performance.

But, what defines 'too long'? At what point does fatigue set in?

This is highly individual. Some of us may find ourselves productive in uninterrupted 3-hour work blocks, while others may thrive with 90-minute sessions interspersed with brief breaks. We term this as mental fitness, which to some extent, ties back to the work practices you've conditioned yourself to follow.

Identifying your optimal work block duration can help you plan effectively and allot your deep work in chunks of this length. Pylot offers an 'optimal length' recommendation within the app to assist you with this planning.

How does Pylot determine optimal time?

By creating a profile based on your cognitive performance, Pylot can determine the duration of a work block that suits you best. It achieves this by analysing changes in your flow and fatigue over a given work block.

The system identifies a period when your flow decreases, or fatigue levels rise. This point signifies the recommended duration for your work blocks, as extending beyond this would likely result in diminished performance.