There are a few phrases that somewhat address this.
work/life balance — the notion that burnout can happen but an appropriate balance between an employee's work and non-work activities will improve productivity in the long run.
work-life balance — a concept including proper prioritizing between "work" (career and ambition) and "lifestyle" (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development/meditation).
This probably isn't suitable because it nearly always contracts "burnout" or "stress" and the concept is referenced as an attempt to explicitly avoid burnout. The good news is that it has a ton of related literature.
interruption science — the "study of the effect of disruptions on job performance".
This is a more generic term that would include any effects that distractions would have. Most of the article is focused on the negative effects of distractions but your example could simply be termed a positive distraction or a beneficial distraction. You could also use "disruption" or "interruption" in place of "distraction".
heads down — Concentrating, usually so heavily and for so long that everything outside the focus area is missed.
heads up — opposite of "heads down"
This is more of a "state" or "mode" than a description of the distraction but people can explicitly switch between these states. Someone who "heads up" is able to notice the "bigger picture" and spot "warning signs" coming in from areas that would be outside of the focus of someone who is "heads down".
You could describe "heads up" as "distractible" or beneficially distractible. This means they are approachable and not "locked in".
A similar phrase to "heads down" but with negative connotations is "blinders on".
There is also a very common concept of leaving a problem unsolved and then coming back to it with a "fresh mind". A common idiom is "sleep on it" but the same principle applies without literal sleep. Similar phrases:
put this on the back burner
ponder it for a while
keep an eye out for a solution
flash of brilliance
These types of behaviors can be explicitly promoted and I've heard of workplaces that have a jogging track around the offices that can be used to "clear one's mind".
But none of these phrases/idioms directly apply to the concept of a distraction being beneficial. They are more intended to convey the concept of "rebooting" or going "back to the whiteboard" with a "fresh start" or "new angles."
The lingo is so prevalent that I find it strange there is no common term for this but I was not able to find one. The closest was "relaxation" which more accurately descriptions a physical attitude rather than a "mental pause/play" pattern.
In the end, I have bolded the most relevant suggestions and then scattershot a whole bunch of close but not quite terms in the hopes that it triggers someone else's memory.