Peace of Mind Organizing

Keeping going

10 June 2008

Yesterday I blogged about overcoming the reluctance to get started on a task, citing Mark Forster’s tip on fooling your reactive mind. Today, I’d like to share some of Forster’s advice about keeping going on tasks once you’ve started.

Forster recommends working in timed bursts. Not dissimilar to the notion of setting a timer for 15 minutes, which I recommend all the time, Forster recommends building a sequence of longer timed bursts as you overcome the initial resistance to the task.

So, for example, if your task were to write a newsletter article, you would set a timer and write for five minutes, take a two-minute break, go back to writing for ten minutes, take another break, go back to the task for 15 minutes, and so on until you’ve reached a period of time that’s optimal for you to work without a break.

Forster says that by focusing on the task for a specific period of time, you get more done. “If you work on something for three bursts of 20 minutes,” he writes in Do It Tomorrow, “you are likely to get more done than if you do an hour’s untimed work on it.”

He makes another important point, which I find really useful. It’s important to stop as soon as your timer goes off, indicating it’s time for a break. Don’t keep going until you reach the end of a paragraph. If you’re writing, stop in mid-sentence.

This is because the mind craves completion. If you stop in mid-sentence, you’ll be itching to get back to the task after your break, whereas if you work to a logical stopping point, you might have to overcome resistance once again. I’ve done this and it works.

Forster also recommends always setting a finishing time for your work day. He says to “stop dead” when that time arrives. If you know you’re ending at a certain time, you’ll get more done, as you work toward that deadline. I have to admit I don’t do this, but I think I’m going to give it a try!

Tagged with: 15 minutes, mark forster, productivity, time management

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