The more I try to cram efficiency into my days, the more I see how natural distraction comes to me. Even things like picking up a book and reading I’ll find myself getting distracted by thoughts before I pick up the book. As I wrote about previously, I’m interested in doing more deep work and decreasing my phone time every day. All in all, strategies like scheduling focused time, locking my social apps during the day, and shutting my office door occasionally have helped.
I find it much easier to focus when I have a focus time limit and a break to look forward to. This brings to mind the Pomodoro technique. This is a productivity methodology where you set a timer for 25 minutes of work and then take a five-minute break. Repeat 4 times and then take a longer break. It’s like interval training for your brain, strengthening it to handle bursts of intense focus.
My days are not always structured for this kind of consistent methodology, but admittedly I have quieter days where this would be helpful at work. Or during a longer writing session. Usually, I write until I’m done, but I wonder if I could accomplish more with purposeful breaks built into those sessions.
My step counter program actually helps with this if I go for the Frequency goals. This requires you to do 6 short walks (500 steps in 7 minutes) every day. I achieve this goal the least often, maybe twice a week. The other two are Intensity (3000 steps in 30 minutes) and Tenacity (10000 steps a day), both I usually check off daily. You earn a dollar towards your HSA for each one you achieve.
Yesterday I went for the Frequency goal and having a few short walks throughout the afternoon noticeably helped me focus and ultimately be more productive. I would commit to working on something until my step tracker buzzed and reminded me for a walk once an hour. This tells me that I need to be more purposeful about building in breaks. What I suspect is happening now is fueled by distraction or feeling stuck.
I’m going to work on giving the Pomodoro technique, or a close version of it, a try more often and use the breaks as a time to go for a short walk. Two birds, one stone.
With Love,
Natalie