A ten minute break every hour worked fine for me through three separate online courses last year, so I have a hard time believing the breaks themselves are the problem. You were probably stuck on a tricky part and the pause just made you forget where you were, which is normal and not really about the timer. Losing your place in the middle of a loop is annoying, sure, but that is more about note taking than rest. Plenty of people step away and come back sharper, so the break rule is not automatically bad. If the code really got worse, look at what you were working on before the break, not the break itself.

Skipping steps always costs double somewhere down the line, just like rushing an oil change.

Called around, dental schools do them way cheaper.