I hate to take breaks for the same reason—it’s like I’m slow to start/focus, slow to stop/unfocus—so when I take a break, I know I’ll have to build up into my focus again. It’s part of my “ADHD”—the wonderful superpower that non-ADHD people have called hyperfocusing. I can hyperfocus for hours at end and lose track of time.
If I’m mid-hyperfocus, then have to stop, it’s not easy—so what I do is I leave my notes and work exactly how I want them to be when I come back. I make sure I can look at my work and notes and know exactly where I left off- I even leave my pen in a place that’s easy to pick up. That reduces the paper-shuffling, information reload time. If I clean up my area, it takes probably 3 times longer to get back into the flow of things.