That's the best work-to-break ratio, according to the Draugiem Group, which conducted an employee productivity experiment with a time-tracking app called DeskTime. What they found was that the people with the highest productive levels weren't the ones toiling at their desks for eight hours a day. Rather, they were working in 52-minute bursts and breaking for 17 minutes, which allowed their brains to rest up for the next 52 minutes of work. According to the research, "the secret to retaining the highest level of productivity over the span of a work day is not working longer, but working smarter with frequent breaks."

Source: Draugiem Group

[This article was originally published in the Associations Now print edition, titled "The Perfect Balance."]