how to: focus in batches
I love this anecdote about how when things are tough and resources are limited, you can focus better. Because you have to. I’ve written about this before in Sunday Life.
Ray Bradbury was a freelance writer who was trying to support his family. However, he was working at home with his cute little children. This proved to be incredibly distracting, so he had to find somewhere else to write. So, he headed over to UCLA’s Lawrence Clark Powell Library.
In the basement of the library there was a number of typewriters that gave 30 minutes of writing time for a dime.
Ray was very poor at the time, and needed all the money he could to support his family. Whenever he popped in the dime, he wanted to get his month’s worth. This forced him to write at a frantic pace until his time was up. The most frustrating element of writing the novel was when the typewriter keys tangled, because it meant that he was wasting valuable time.
In between these 30 minute typewriter banging sessions, he would wander the halls of the library studying books and contemplating what he would write for the next 30 minutes.
The novel Ray finished was classic sci-fi novel Fahrenheit 451. He created this novel in record amount of time, and recalled feeling as if the flow of time had accelerated. The novel wrote itself, effortlessly.
Tough times are the friction required for launching off into great things. This is why people from grim backgrounds can often go off to contribute marvellous things to life.
And limited resources force you to focus on your creativity.
I often create limited resources when I have to get something done, like my weekly column. I create short deadlines that I have to work to. I make sure they’re REAL deadlines. Like, yesterday, I had to do a phone interview at 3.30. That was my deadline. It meant I couldn’t go down the road for a tea at 11 to read the papers. And I had to turn off my email for a few hours.
What do you do?
Hi Sarah,
Love your website. Like yourself I’m self-employed and spend all day in my SOHO office working on screens. People think it’s quite a cruisy life – if only they knew. It’s been 9 years now (all very enjoyable) however I can certainly understand the daily mind games required to get your ass into gear.
I use a little free egg timer (www.dinnertimer.com) which I set to 30 minute blocks – sometimes 1 hour blocks though I’ve found 30 minutes works best. Each time the buzzer sounds I think either “wow, look what I just got done then” or “oh boy, I just wasted another 30 minutes surfing Amazon looking at books instead of doing work”.
Either way – each buzzer call is constant and regular feedback on how I’m using my day. Like yourself (and unlike most PAYGers of the world) – if we don’t work we don’t eat – so productivity isn’t just some 80’s management concept for me. It’s very real everyday.
The most important tip: using the timer all day long even when goofing off – not just when you are actually working. This is because the timer acts like a reminder from your mother/spouse/boss saying “hey, look – another 30 minutes wasted on XYZ”.
So I find the timer value is highest when it captures non-working periods and highlights them for you – not periods when I’m most productive.
Paul.
I wish I had something in place so that I was more productive. I think I may just use your idea Paul!
This post is up there with your one on cheerfulness – I will be implementing the sage advice long after today.
Tuesday is the day I put aside for my PhD studies and I find these days incredibly daunting for many reasons…. I think about all that I have to do with this project and literally project 7 years into the future to end date (that alone is enough to overwhelm me into a catatonic state). At the moment I put aside 5 – 6 hours a week when really I need to create twice as much time to give it the attention it deserves and every Tuesday I think why have I signed myself up for this as I think about how full my plate of life is….
So this post was perfect today – I broke the day into 30 minute pieces of focused activity. When I found myself thinking (usually within the first 5 minutes) , I’ll make a cup of tea, check my emails, tweet something one of the other many endless distractions I can find –I told myself you can do that in 25 minutes.
As I temporarily turn off the computer & shift into the role of mother that will dominate the next few hours – I do so acknowledging what I have accomplished today and well prepared for when I return to the evening stint at the computer (my place of work)
Yes, it’s amazing what can be achieved when you’re up against the clock.
Along with a timer, I go to great lengths to create distraction free chunks of time. I’m using ommwriter.com thanks to your own recommendation plus my latest power tool — macfreedom.com.
It shuts down network/internet access for whatever time you set and the only way to reinstate access (before the time is up) is to restart your computer. Very effective
I have been setting deadlines for my uni work for the last week, and it is working. Last year I was a lot more laissez-faire about studying, and although I still achieved reasonable marks from cramming at the last minute, I didn’t really understand the concepts and I have barely taken away any knowledge. This year, I am only in my second week of semester, but I already feel as though I have learned more than I did all of last year.
I love Paul’s timer trick. I can spend hours browsing the internet without realising, and I think that would help : )
I find that I enjoy studying once I get started, it is the starting that is the problem!
Jo, I reckon procrastinating has it’s place…you just dedicate 30 mins to it and do it properly. Hanging washing out, emptying the compost, making a tea, answering emails….and then back to it. MIght as well make it 30 mins of naffness so you can feel like you had a proper break!
Paul, you should have a blog for this stuff!
Ohhh! This is such an amazing story. I had no idea that was how Bradbury wrote the famous book. But after considering it, it really does make a lot of sense. I am by no means a procrastinator, but like a lot of people I do tend to work well under pressure. I think that the ability to work in a tight spot, mixed with at least a tad of preparedness, and foresight, will always lead to brilliance!
Thanks for sharing.
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