I love football.
One thing that never ceases to amaze me is what a team can do when they’re behind and need to score in the final minutes of a game. It’s incredible to watch how a group of 11 men can progress the ball down the field when the pressure is piling up. When every second counts.
I’ve found a way to use this strategy in my own work. But instead of a 2 minute warning time frame, I use a technique called the Pomodoro. Essentially it’s where you give yourself 25-minute sessions to complete a task. I use an egg timer, and once I press ‘start,’ I don’t stop until I hear the beep. It’s a simple hack, but for me, it works great. At the end of each 20-minute session, I take a short time out which I treat as a commercial break. I’ll stretch, chug some water, check my email, whatever. But the key is to be disciplined about these breaks (usually 5 minutes) then, I reward myself with a ‘new set of downs’ and do it again.
Rinse and repeat.
What's your productivity hack?