Episode 011: The Adventure of Keeping It All Together - Focus

Jan 11, 2016

The Adventure of Keeping It All Together - Focus

Becky and Diana discuss ideas and strategies for maximum productivity.

Your brain is a muscle, and like all muscles, it tires from repeated stress.

• A recent study shows that the most productive people worked in 52 minute segments followed by 17 minute breaks.
• When you focus too long, your brain becomes fatigued and your production actually goes down.
• Taking a break is as important to productivity as focused work.
• Productive work happens in sprints not marathons.
• Short bursts of focus (52 minutes or so) builds the brain.
• You have to know your own focus limits – the optimal out of time for you to work in a stretch (no, it’s not 8 hours!).
• Schedule breaks, and stick to a time limit by using timers or an app like BreakTime.
• Use timers to keep track of how long you have been working and how long your breaks are.
• Be realistic in your estimation of how long a task will take – put in time to ramp up if you’re learning something new or doing something difficult.
• Turn Off To Tune In - All alerts are distractions, even the anticipation of an alert is a distraction.
• Set Boundaries - Teach people how to treat you and respect your time.
• The BreakTime app lets you set up how long you want to work and how long a break you want to take. It lets you know when it’s time to work, when it’s break time, and when it’s time to go back to work.

STAMP OF BRILLIANCE

Your brain is a muscle, and like ALL muscles, it tires from repeated stress. So work in sprints, not marathons.