A Wren Says

In my most challenging year of school yet, I had to buckle down and find a new system. I was floundering under the pressure and deadlines. I needed something to get on track to getting things done. Using timers for work and rest are what finally helped me regain my focus and get my major projects completed. Something clicked in my brain when I set a timer. “It’s okay to ignore that text message. There’ll be time later. Don’t worry, you can research that random topic that just popped into your head in just a bit. Oh, and you can definitely push through and keep working until the buzzer sounds.” Learning about and  using the Pomodoro technique was a major shift for my productivity. Except, I didn’t actually use the technique.

Conventional wisdom pooled from productivity influencers will have you believe that 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of rest is the golden ratio for focus. Any straying from that and you won’t get the benefits. And during those 5 minutes, you need to avoid switching to new tasks. Give your brain rest, release your eyes from screen. That is the ideal way to do it, but I found that didn’t really work for me.

I deviated from the rules significantly for myself. I dropped the work periods down to just 10 minutes, with still maintaining 5 minutes for rest. Once the timer beeped, I would let myself scroll the internet to my hearts content. And then it was back to work. If they knew how I was doing things, the productivity masterminds would gasp. “10 minutes? Why that’s barely any time!” True, but it isn’t zero. And that was my alternative.

Working with my brain and what will get me to be successful meant bending the parameters to fit my own needs. When I was really struggling to focus, 25 minutes felt unbearable. Giving myself just 10 minutes to lock in felt doable, so I did it. And while it may not be ideal, letting myself scroll and do different tasks during the rest periods helped me avoid feeling deprived and losing motivation to keep going. It was like giving myself a little virtual treat.

Maybe I should have just forced myself to follow the technique as is. Maybe I should have forced myself to stay focused for 25 minutes straight and then leave my computer behind for the 5 minute interval. Maybe I should have done it how everyone said I should. But I didn’t. I did what worked for me.

Just because something is a good idea and works for many people doesn’t mean that it will work for you. Just because it doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean that nothing will. Give yourself the freedom to adapt productivity tactics into a system that aligns with how your brain works and how you are shaping your ideal life.

I’m going back and looking at the tactics that helped me be successful in the past and readopting them for my current life. What are some tactics you’ve used that were helpful to you before? What are some habits you would like to readopt instead of looking for the new best thing?