The typical American office worker only does about 90 minutes of real work per workday.
The rest of each workday is largely spent on distractions like
reading the news, web surfing, socializing with coworkers, snacking,
taking coffee breaks, shuffling papers around, processing irrelevant
emails, needless delay tactics, playing games, and daydreaming.
Moreover, American office workers are among the world’s most
productive. In many other countries, even less work gets done each day.
This stat hasn’t changed much in decades, despite massive investments
in time management and productivity training by many companies. We have
more technology to assist us in being productive, but we also have more
to distract us.
The general problem is that we’re still applying an industrial age
model to the productivity of knowledge workers. It makes sense to pay
attention to hours worked if the productive output for each hour is
roughly the same. That may be true for repetitive labor, but it doesn’t
apply much to knowledge workers.
For a knowledge worker, what’s the difference between an hour of peak
productivity vs. a low productivity hour? That peak hour could easily
be 10x more productive in terms of the volume of work completed and the
results generated.
What sense does it make to spend more time at the office if you’re
normally operating at less than 20% of capacity? Why not simply do 90
minutes of real work and then go home for the day?
What if you could complete a whole day’s work in only 90 minutes? What would that 90-minute period look like?
Focus Blocks
Here are some recommendations for having a very productive 90-min period (let’s call it a focus block):
1. Pick one theme – Instead of doing a bunch of
random actions, pick one clear theme for the block. This allows your
brain to load in a singular context and stick with it, which makes you
more efficient. Your theme may be a project you’re working on, a type of
work like catching up on correspondence, or anything that lets your
brain load in one clear context and stick with it.
2. Define the finish line – See your focus block as a
fast dash to the finish line. But where is the finish line? What does
it look like? Having a clear goal that’s only 90 minutes away will help
you focus. Don’t worry if you don’t cross the finish line each time;
it’s there to help you focus, so aim for it, but accept that sometimes
you’ll miss. Some examples: Write and post a new blog entry. Process
items in my email inbox till it’s completely empty. Plan and schedule
all my focus blocks for the upcoming week.
3. List the action steps – List the specific actions
you’ll take during this block. For some blocks this is really helpful.
For others it may not be necessary if the steps are already clear. I
wouldn’t list out my action steps for writing a new article since that
process is very familiar to me, but I’d list brainstorm and
list steps for an unfamiliar new project to make it easier to get
started. Some examples: Delete all obvious spam and clutter from my
email inbox first. Then quickly process all messages that I can
handle in less than two minutes each. Next, sort and prioritize longer
messages for response. Respond to my most important longer messages till
I’m at the 90-minute point. Surrender to the realization that it’s not a
good use of my time to reply to the rest, and just archive them to
empty the inbox.
4. Ensure zero interruptions – Do whatever it takes to ensure that you will not be interrupted
under any circumstances during your focus block. If necessary, tell
people in advance that you will not be available for the next 90
minutes; let them know that you will be available after that. Lock your
door if you can. If you can’t guarantee that you won’t be interrupted in
your current work environment, then do your focus block somewhere else.
You’ll be much more productive and your focus will be deeper if you
know for certain that you won’t be interrupted.
5. Work fast – Think fast. Move fast. Work fast. If you catch yourself going slow, speed up!
Imagine that you’re in a race, and you have to maintain a strong pace
for the full 90 minutes. After that you can rest. With practice this
gets easier.
6. Allow no distractions – During your focus block,
you must do your pre-defined work and nothing else. Keep your cell phone
off. Turn off any notifications that might interrupt you. Turn off your
Internet access if you won’t need it during this block. Do not check
email during this time. Do not take a coffee break or snack break. Use
the bathroom during this time only if you must.
I think you get the idea.
Avoid the Gray Zone and Take Real Breaks
Many people spend their workdays in a gray zone marathon. That’s why
it takes them 7-8 hours to do 90 minutes of work. They work slowly and
inefficiently. Their work time is cluttered with distractions and
interruptions. They begin late and wind down early. Most of the time,
they’re only half working.
Instead of doing a gray zone marathon each day, cycle between real
work and real breaks. This will be much more efficient, even if you work
only half as many hours or less.
Don’t immediately go from one focus block right into another. After
you complete a focus block, celebrate your achievement. Then assess
where you are. Tune into your energy and see how you feel.
If you’re still feeling alert and energized, you may only need a
short break. Take 5-10 minutes to stretch, go to the bathroom, and have
some fresh fruit. Then feel free to dive right into another focus block.
If you feel tired, it’s good to eat something and/or take a nap.
If you feel like doing something physical, go for a walk or take an exercise break.
If you feel like you could use some emotional renewal, you may wish to meditate, socialize, or read some inspiring material.
How long should your breaks be? Make them as long as necessary till
you’re ready for another round of focused work. Sometimes you may only
need a few minutes. Other times it may be wise to take a couple hours
off, especially if the previous block was particularly draining. Between
focus blocks, seek to refresh and renew your energy until you’re ready
to handle another focus block.
Do your best not to load up your breaks with gray zone tasks like
email since that’s more likely to drain you. I recommend batching small
tasks into their own focus block (including email). But if it’s just a
quick one-minute email check now and then, that probably won’t be too
bad, but never do email checks during a block unless it’s critical for
the completion of the block.
Realize that if you only complete one focus block in a whole day,
you’ve still done as much real work as the typical American office
worker does in a full eight-hour day. And if you only complete two
blocks, you’re twice as productive as most. On a super productive day,
you may complete five or six blocks, which is like getting a full week’s
worth of work done in one day.
Do a Week of Work in a Day
During one of the most productive periods of my life, when I was
doing contract game programming work, I’d normally work from 9am to
noon, take a one hour break for lunch, and then work from 1pm until 5pm
or 6pm. But I’d subdivide the work into shorter focus blocks of deep
concentration.
At the start of each day, I’d define the next milestone I wanted to
reach, such as a short list of new features to add. Then I’d make a
short list of action steps in my work journal (just an everyday spiral
notebook). Sometimes I wouldn’t bother to list the action steps if they
seemed obvious. Then I’d program the items on the list. Finally, I’d
compile the software, test the program, fix bugs, and tweak the
implementation until I was satisfied. A typical milestone would take me
about 45-90 minutes to achieve.
Since I was programming games, testing the program meant playing the
game a little to test the new features as well as the overall gameplay.
In effect, the testing phase gave my brain a nice break from designing
algorithms and writing code.
When I finished one cycle like this, I’d feel a nice little sense of
accomplishment. I might take a quick stretch break. Then I’d make a new
list and repeat.
In the morning, I would complete a few of these cycles, perhaps three
of them. In the afternoon I’d do several more. My game projects
progressed very quickly during this time. Every day I added many new
features. I could have a prototype of a whole new game running in just a
few days this way. With today’s better development tools, the work can
progress even faster.
During lunch each day, I took a complete break to restore my mental
energy. I rarely went to lunch with my co-workers. Usually I brought a
sack lunch with me, but I left the office to go eat. I’d drive to a
nearby park, sit on the grass with my back against a tree, and eat alone
in silence. I’d let go of work and just relax. After eating, I’d lie
back on the grass and take a 20-minute nap, or I’d stare up at the sky
and totally zone out. I’d enjoy the breeze and listen to the birds. I
gave the brain circuits I needed for programming work a very restful
break. Then I’d go back to my car, return to work, and crank out a few
more cycles before leaving for the day.
Test, Train, and Experiment
If you aren’t used to a working rhythm of alternating focus blocks
with rest periods, you may need to practice this method for a while to
get used to it. I expect you’ll really like it once you taste this kind
of flow. Doing a full day’s work in about 90 minutes is not only
efficient; it’s also motivated and energizing.
Cycles of about 90 minutes usually work well once you get up to
speed. But you may find that shorter cycles like 45 or 60 minutes work
better for you. You may also find that different cycle lengths are more
suited to different types of work. Sometimes I’ll keep going for 2.5
hours (or more) if I’m feeling good, especially when writing a new
article.
Some people like having scheduled focus blocks with scheduled breaks,
so everything is a set duration. They’re sticklers for starting and
stopping at set times. There’s some evidence that this helps your brain
optimize its performance if your cycles are the same every day.
For instance, you might have focus blocks at 5:30-7:00am,
8:00-9:30am, 10:30am-noon, 1pm-2:30pm, and 3:30-5pm, which would give
you five 90-minute focus blocks with hour-long breaks in between. This
would be a super productive day that would see you doing as much real
work in one day as the typical American office worker does in a week,
but you’re only working for 7.5 hours total.
Other people prefer a more organic approach, deciding based on their
energy levels how low each focus block and break should be. This is how I
work most of the time.
A modest but still highly productive schedule might entail having
three focus blocks per day. You could easily complete a great deal of
work this way. Many top creative workers only work 3-5 hours per day,
but they work with deep focus and zero interruptions during that time.
Don’t succumb to the cultural bias that may try to convince you that
working 8+ hours per day makes you productive. That may be true for
physical labor and some repetitive tasks, but it’s not true for
knowledge workers and creative types. Many people enjoy tremendous flow
and achieve great results by working in short high energy, bursts of
motivation and drive. Try this for yourself, and you may never want to
return to the gray zone of long, unproductive workdays again.
In life, we tend to live up to certain values and qualities in
order to lead life rightfully and to the fullest. Little did we know
some of these qualities are connected in enhancing our emotional
intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is a combination of an individual's capabilities to identify, control and manage their own feelings and others' while utilizing these emotions to aid in their problem solving and get things done. The concept of emotional intelligence has been around since 1990, but only in recent years that it has been recognized as a must have soft skill in leadership and relationship building.
Here are seven qualities of emotionally intelligent people:
1. Self awareness
People with high emotional intelligence are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. They are able to use their strengths to look for more opportunities. They also learn to ensure their weaknesses which hold them as threats would not affect them deeply but instead instill in themselves the perseverance to move on and improve better.
2. Open minded perspectives
They often keep an open mind. They find changes are necessities to move on in life. Hence, they improvise whenever they can to adapt and compromise with their surrounding. They aren't perfectionists as they know it's nearly impossible to be so. Therefore, they learn to endure every treacherous and exciting journey of life by trying to understand things from various perspectives. Alongside, they learn from their mistakes practically to remain the lessons lifelong.
3. Self motivator
They are also self motivated individuals who drive their own dreams and goals with the hope to achieve them eventually. They may be ambitious but are willing to work hard just to achieve their needs and desires. They aren't easily distracted but instead would remained focus of the task at hand till it's completed.
4. Boundaries and Balance in life
While you may think they lead a hectic and energetic life that they get tired and at some point they give up. Then you're wrong. Emotionally intelligent individuals often do a self check on themselves to keep a balance in everything especially in life and at work. To them it's important to chase after their dreams but it's essential to also live their life. Hence, they learn to set boundaries.
5. Empathetic nature but Priorities strategist
Sometimes due to their empathetic nature of being polite and compassionate, others may want to take advantage but these individuals have the power to control and establish their own boundaries. It helps them to improve their prioritization and gets them a ticket to walk away from previous dwelling unnecessary commitments.
6. Curiosity nurtures the cat
Being curious is their main strength leading them to discover the wonders of life and explore the possibilities of more knowledge while increasing their confidence level. They often had the right judgments and question a lot. It's also one of the factors which led them into their pleasant personality.
7. Gracious life with an optimistic bright future
The fact that they are gracious towards their life and do not let negativity influence them, makes them lead a realistic life where they do not dwell in the past but instead worry more of the uncertain future possibilities. They seldom hold grudges neither do they let their past mistakes drown them into the dark side.
In short, emotionally intelligent people chose the right way to live their life not just for themselves but for others as well.
Emotional intelligence is a combination of an individual's capabilities to identify, control and manage their own feelings and others' while utilizing these emotions to aid in their problem solving and get things done. The concept of emotional intelligence has been around since 1990, but only in recent years that it has been recognized as a must have soft skill in leadership and relationship building.
Here are seven qualities of emotionally intelligent people:
1. Self awareness
People with high emotional intelligence are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. They are able to use their strengths to look for more opportunities. They also learn to ensure their weaknesses which hold them as threats would not affect them deeply but instead instill in themselves the perseverance to move on and improve better.
2. Open minded perspectives
They often keep an open mind. They find changes are necessities to move on in life. Hence, they improvise whenever they can to adapt and compromise with their surrounding. They aren't perfectionists as they know it's nearly impossible to be so. Therefore, they learn to endure every treacherous and exciting journey of life by trying to understand things from various perspectives. Alongside, they learn from their mistakes practically to remain the lessons lifelong.
3. Self motivator
They are also self motivated individuals who drive their own dreams and goals with the hope to achieve them eventually. They may be ambitious but are willing to work hard just to achieve their needs and desires. They aren't easily distracted but instead would remained focus of the task at hand till it's completed.
4. Boundaries and Balance in life
While you may think they lead a hectic and energetic life that they get tired and at some point they give up. Then you're wrong. Emotionally intelligent individuals often do a self check on themselves to keep a balance in everything especially in life and at work. To them it's important to chase after their dreams but it's essential to also live their life. Hence, they learn to set boundaries.
5. Empathetic nature but Priorities strategist
Sometimes due to their empathetic nature of being polite and compassionate, others may want to take advantage but these individuals have the power to control and establish their own boundaries. It helps them to improve their prioritization and gets them a ticket to walk away from previous dwelling unnecessary commitments.
6. Curiosity nurtures the cat
Being curious is their main strength leading them to discover the wonders of life and explore the possibilities of more knowledge while increasing their confidence level. They often had the right judgments and question a lot. It's also one of the factors which led them into their pleasant personality.
7. Gracious life with an optimistic bright future
The fact that they are gracious towards their life and do not let negativity influence them, makes them lead a realistic life where they do not dwell in the past but instead worry more of the uncertain future possibilities. They seldom hold grudges neither do they let their past mistakes drown them into the dark side.
In short, emotionally intelligent people chose the right way to live their life not just for themselves but for others as well.
