I find that after about 6 hours of really careful listening I NEED a BREAK! If for no other reason than to go to the bathroom and get a glass of water and walk around for a couple of minutes. You would be surprised what a short break can do for your Psyche. Some clients want to keep on pushing and pushing and I have had to learn, the hard way, to just say I need a break and take one.
I have one client who is a Doctor. He is use to long hours doing complicated lab procedures and you think he if anyone would understand the need for a break but when he is here for an editing session he wants to do it all in one sitting and I need to get up and relax especially since my wrist get very tired. At one point I had to say to him "I am sorry but I need a 10 minute break and I need to go outside to get some fresh air he protested that he wanted to get the job done but he finally relented and I got my break. After that he has been very nice about breaks even suggesting one every so often.
If we are really busy and the clients are stacked then it is hard to get some time to yourself especially when someone goes over their allotted time and the next client arrives before the first one leaves. We offer a 30 minute no charge listening session at the beginning of each new mastering session and that gives me a chance to relax and get into another session with a fresh outlook. Some times going from Folk to Rock makes a big difference in my energy level sometimes going from Rock to Classical has the opposite effect.
I think anything over 10 hours strait is a good example of the law of diminishing returns.
