> If a mathematician picks a research direction and spends a whole week on it and it doesn't pan out, they will likely be annoyed, need a break for a while, etc.

Your timelines are a bit unambitious. There's nobody expecting to make significant progress with a week of work.

> There's nobody expecting to make significant progress with a week of work.

You underestimate my ADHD.

Source: I am mathematician.

They were just illustrating their point, I wouldn't take that literally.