The secret of productivity, work fast and quit by focusing on something else
I woke up early today and currently, I realize there are many things that are pending, yet I do not feel the urge to do them. For example, there is this post that I am supposed to write on this blog, about my productivity and how riding my bike has been a good way to change my focus, and actually force my mind to relax. I need focus.
I have to remain focused on what I am presently doing to actually make it to the end in one piece. Otherwise, I can start, then dash off to some tab on my browser and before I know it, I am actually on twitter following links I do not even know where to.
If you have a problem like me of concentrating, then a pomodoro technique can be your friend. I am reminded of a pomodoro technique when I ride my bike, although it does not come out as clear as that. When I am cycling towards a hill, the going gets tough. However, as I look to the other end of the hill, I know there is a flat area that will not take too much energy to go through. In many cases, it is a slope and that motivates me to put my all during the uphill part, knowing that on the downhill, things will be smooth. It is the same thing with a pomodoro routine. You have a few minutes like 30 minutes of some serious focus on some work or thing you are doing, and then you have another few minutes of some serious un-focus on the work or thing you are doing.
For example, I can say that I am writing thing article for the next ten minutes, though I doubt if it will take ten minutes. Then I seriously just maximize the window on this laptop and just get on writing. I can just write, if it is writing that I am doing, or I can edit, when that is what I am doing. When the time is up, I quit voluntarily and proceed to do something else. I can get on my bike or I can decide to do dishes. The trick is to do one thing once and move to another different thing.
I will give you another example. I was always going to a library (the physical library with shelves and books) and I would read whatever was interesting at the time. I remember reading books on economics and then I would leave the library after an hour or two hours and just walk home. It took me about an hour to get home. I remember those days, I did not have a bicycle. Walking home would fill me with distractions. I could see a cool car, some nice billboard, a great scenery, some people querreling and some clothes on sale among other things. When I got home, I would proceed to do something else. The next day when I went back to the library, I would remember the book, take it and continue reading, and suprisingly to me, it all seemed to make sense. However, when I tried to just read a book for a whole day, like during my high school days, by evening, my head would feel like a zombie. And the next day, I could not grasp important bits from the book I was reading.
Sometimes I forget to take breaks. However, I know, breaks are the reason why we remain sane and productive as we work.
Similarly, I can tell an example of my cycling experience. The other day, I told you of the way I discovered Google Fit as a fitness app for my android phone. What I did not tell you was the breaks I was taking while I cycled for hours. Whenever I was on a consistent uphill terrain, I would measure the amount of effort I was putting into pedaling, then I would use that as a justification of going on or relaxing. As I have revealed before, relaxing in this case could come in the form of just being on the bike and gliding over a slope. At other times, I just parked the bike and sat down, probably on grass or on a raised stone. Not only did that make the riding cool, it also allowed me to just wonder my thoughts such that the cycling experience was not as boring as it would otherwise be.
In your case, there could be questions on whether going straight ahead with work is good, or taking that break is fine. What do you think. How about you try both and review them to find the better one?
I have to remain focused on what I am presently doing to actually make it to the end in one piece. Otherwise, I can start, then dash off to some tab on my browser and before I know it, I am actually on twitter following links I do not even know where to.
If you have a problem like me of concentrating, then a pomodoro technique can be your friend. I am reminded of a pomodoro technique when I ride my bike, although it does not come out as clear as that. When I am cycling towards a hill, the going gets tough. However, as I look to the other end of the hill, I know there is a flat area that will not take too much energy to go through. In many cases, it is a slope and that motivates me to put my all during the uphill part, knowing that on the downhill, things will be smooth. It is the same thing with a pomodoro routine. You have a few minutes like 30 minutes of some serious focus on some work or thing you are doing, and then you have another few minutes of some serious un-focus on the work or thing you are doing.
For example, I can say that I am writing thing article for the next ten minutes, though I doubt if it will take ten minutes. Then I seriously just maximize the window on this laptop and just get on writing. I can just write, if it is writing that I am doing, or I can edit, when that is what I am doing. When the time is up, I quit voluntarily and proceed to do something else. I can get on my bike or I can decide to do dishes. The trick is to do one thing once and move to another different thing.
I will give you another example. I was always going to a library (the physical library with shelves and books) and I would read whatever was interesting at the time. I remember reading books on economics and then I would leave the library after an hour or two hours and just walk home. It took me about an hour to get home. I remember those days, I did not have a bicycle. Walking home would fill me with distractions. I could see a cool car, some nice billboard, a great scenery, some people querreling and some clothes on sale among other things. When I got home, I would proceed to do something else. The next day when I went back to the library, I would remember the book, take it and continue reading, and suprisingly to me, it all seemed to make sense. However, when I tried to just read a book for a whole day, like during my high school days, by evening, my head would feel like a zombie. And the next day, I could not grasp important bits from the book I was reading.
Sometimes I forget to take breaks. However, I know, breaks are the reason why we remain sane and productive as we work.
Similarly, I can tell an example of my cycling experience. The other day, I told you of the way I discovered Google Fit as a fitness app for my android phone. What I did not tell you was the breaks I was taking while I cycled for hours. Whenever I was on a consistent uphill terrain, I would measure the amount of effort I was putting into pedaling, then I would use that as a justification of going on or relaxing. As I have revealed before, relaxing in this case could come in the form of just being on the bike and gliding over a slope. At other times, I just parked the bike and sat down, probably on grass or on a raised stone. Not only did that make the riding cool, it also allowed me to just wonder my thoughts such that the cycling experience was not as boring as it would otherwise be.
In your case, there could be questions on whether going straight ahead with work is good, or taking that break is fine. What do you think. How about you try both and review them to find the better one?
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