On Friday, we downloaded Spore and played it non-stop all day. It was a lot of fun, but the day seemed like it whizzed by in a flash, and so it didn’t really feel like we got a lot of good down time or quality time together.

On Saturday, we played Spore all day as well, but this time, we took a 5-minute break every hour. The day felt long, we felt like we got a lot of good down time and quality time together, and we had just as much fun as we did on Friday.

This is the power of the 5-minute break. Simply by taking a 5-minute break every hour during a fun activity, you can make the fun stretch out and feel much longer and more satisfying.

Flow is a double-edged sword. Flow makes the hours fly by like minutes. When you’re being productive, this is awesome, but when you’re having fun, flow can decrease your satisfaction by making your subjective time whizz by.

Time flies when you’re having fun, but that’s exactly when you don’t want it to fly! 5-minute breaks, friends, I’m telling you. Set a non-annoying alarm if you lose track of time. Try it out. (: