Procrastination hack: ‘(10+2)*5′
Here’s another approach to reducing procrastination and getting more done. I found this on 43 Folders, a site geared towards personal productivity and “life hacks”.
Who it’s for:
- procrastinators
- the easily distracted
- compulsive web-surfers
- people with a long list of very short tasks (a/k/a “mosquitos”)
- people having trouble chipping away at very large tasks
What you’ll need
1 - a timer
*must be easy to reset
*electronic kitchen timer is particularly good (pref. with multiple alarm memories), or
*an app like Minuteur (get the newest version—several cool new features)
2 - a reduced subset of your to-do list
*tasks that can be worked on (not necessarily completed) in blocks of 10 minutes or less
*GTD people: next actions only, please
3 - an hour of your time (less is potentially okay, but it’s non-canonical)
4 - You…
The basic formula is (10+2)*5, which essentially means that you work on a task for 10 minutes, take a 2-minute break, and repeat this 5 times during the course of an hour.
Of course you can change the numbers to your situation, but the idea is to cram in more focused productivity in an hour, while allowing set times for the breaks your brain needs.
Here’s an example incorporating a job search and staying fit, using the core times for your job search and the breaks for exercise:
1:00-1:10: Spend 10 minutes tailoring your resume for a specific opportunity on your list
1:10-1:12: Do as many pushups as you can in 2 minutes
1:12-1:22: Spend 10 minutes targeting specific people in that company (perhaps through using LinkedIn or other business / social networking sites).
1:22-1:24: Do as many crunches as you can in 2 minutes
1:24-1:34: Tailor your introductory email (cover letter) to each person you’ve identified in that company. Use a template so you don’t re-write from scratch.
1:34-1:36: Do squats (with or without weights) for 2 minutes
1:36-1:46: Attach your resume to the cover letter drafts, and proofread them to make sure there are no errors before you send them to the people you’ve identified
1:46-1:48: Do dumbell curls for 2 minutes
1:48-1:58: Send emails and set appointments in your calendar to follow up with each person you’ve contacted
1:58-2:00: Do jumping jacks for 2 minutes
Test it out, let us know what you think in the comments section!
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
[...] on Jim Stroud’s The Job Search Strategist: The Procrastination hack. For “procrastinators, the easily distracted, comulsive web-surfers, people with a long list [...]