The Art and Science of Thriving
Welcome to The Art and Science of Thriving, the podcast where high-achieving professionals unlock the secrets to living a fulfilling, balanced, and high-performing life.
Through evidence-based insights in neuroscience, psychology, and high-performance strategies, we’ll explore how to achieve success without burnout, create clarity and purpose, and thrive in every area of your life.
Michael Schiel, a high performance coach and transformation consultant, hosts the podcast. Michael helps overwhelmed people and teams find their purpose, achieve their goals, and reach peak performance while creating well-being, balance and fulfillment in their lives
The Art and Science of Thriving
Episode #101: How to Take Breaks and Recover for Performance and Wellbeing
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Do you come back from vacation more tired than when you left?
You're not alone — and it's not a discipline problem.
In this episode of The Art and Science of Thriving, I break down what the actual research says about breaks, recovery, and vacations, because a lot of what gets repeated in the wellness world is either wrong or way overstated.
Most high-achievers treat breaks as a reward you earn after the work is done — or worse, a sign you're not tough enough to push through. I want to flip that completely, using real research instead of the productivity-hack version of it.
In this episode, I dive into:
- Four popular "rules" about breaks that the science doesn't actually support — including the 90-minute focus cycle, the willpower "tank" that supposedly drains, and whether the Pomodoro Technique's 25/5 split is really optimal.
- What actually works at every timescale — daily micro-breaks, weekly detachment, a monthly lighter week, and a genuinely surprising finding about vacations: several short trips beat one long one, every time.
- The single question you can ask about any break, at any timescale, to know whether it's actually working — or just relocating the thing that's straining you.
- A complete, periodized recovery protocol you can start building into your life this week, based on the same principles elite athletic programs use to turn hard effort into real, sustainable gains.
Plus, I've created a free one-page recovery protocol you can download from Invictus.coach/resources — daily, weekly, monthly, and annual recovery, laid out so you can start using it right away.
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The "Thrive Hive" is a monthly membership to help teach, coach and support individuals, organizational teams and their leaders in reaching their full potential, and living a flourishing life with balance and well-being.
You get access to group coaching, monthly education, webinars/livecasts and other events, topic-based support and tools, and access to a private community of other like-minded individuals.
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