The Ana Edit Issue #3: Productivity Hacks
Productivity Hacks: Three, Scientifically Proven, Ways To Get More Done
Ana's Corner
This week was…………bizarre. I have found life in quarantine to usually be volatile.i.e one week I am bursting at the seams and another I fail to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, this week was neither odious or sublime; it was merely adequate (cue TikTok meme of “very much adequate”). On Monday, I had plans to be very productive, but I was overcome with tiredness and I could not conjure up the energy to get much done, and THAT IS OKAY. I chose to include this succinct anecdote in today’s letter because I want everyone to keep this in mind later when they read the “hacks”, if you will, for how to master productivity. While productivity is the goal and can be achieved 99% of the time, the other 1% exists. We are human beings and doing nothing is as mundane an experience as any. In other words, balance is key! Rather than beat myself up over a day many would consider “wasted”, I just kept going without overcompensating. As a society, we often get trapped in a vicious cycle of not doing enough to doing too much to being burnt out. Not only is this deleterious to our mental health, but it is not conducive to our productivity either. The cyclical pattern of excelling, stagnating, and ultimately failing breeds resentment and makes us hate the thought of productivity at all. So, how do we escape it? I will let you know when I figure it out.
The RunDown
As promised, here are the three ways to achieve maximum output.i.e productivity (Someone provide me with a synonym for productivity because I have written it more times than I have spoken to my friends in the past month……..you can surmise whether that is an exaggeration or not).
Pomodoro Method
Parkinson’s Law
Time Boxing
Pomodoro Method
If you have ever been in a productivity or studying subsection of a platform, you are probably acquainted with Pomodoros. For those that are unfamiliar with this term, pomodoros work by allotting a certain period of time for hard work followed by a shorter period for a break. For instance, you can set a pomodoro for 25 minutes of answering emails, followed by a 5 minute rest. After completing that, you can set another pomodoro for 25 minutes to complete y task such as planning content. Pomodoros can be tailored to suit individuals, but the same premise of having x minutes for work, b minutes for a break, and repeating the pattern applies. Essentially, pomodoros can be defined as setting time to do a duty rather than just completing all your errands without planning.
The Benefits
Pomodoros help prevent that crash and burn phenomenon that inevitably arises when you attempt to go for a prolonged period of time without a break. By giving yourself little rest times, you will often find that you can work for much longer and you are not as drained at the end of the day. I recommend using your break for activities such as stretching, using the restroom, or getting a snack. The temptation to use your rest for perusing social media and going on your phone is high, but there is a caveat. Going on your phone will make it difficult to get yourself back to work and 5 minutes will fly by. Instead, as previously mentioned, try stretching or taking care of your body in general. If you aren’t fond of the aforementioned suggestions, feel free to experiment. Do what works best for you, not what others deem helpful.
Two pomodoro study sessions will be linked below. Feel free to try this technique out using one or both of these resources!
Parkinson's Law
Parkinson’s Law is an enthralling concept that seems counterintuitive at first, but makes a lot of sense when you really ponder it. So, I beseech you to hear me out while I explain what it is.
Parkinson’s Law can be summarized as such: Work expands to fit the time allotted
Let’s break this down.
Work= task (s); something that needs to be done
Expands=grows, takes more time, etc
The Time Allotted= the amount of time you give yourself to complete the task.
If we analyze the law using the definitions above, we can deduce that the amount of time it takes to complete a task depends on how long we give ourselves to do it……………come again?
I am certain many of you are vexed by this claim. Isn’t the amount of time it takes to complete a task solely dependent on how large the task is? In a simple world, yes. In the convoluted world in which we live, no. Parkinson’s law takes the discussion above one step forward and retorts that completion time has a direct relationship with the amount of time allowed for a task, meaning the more time we give ourselves to complete a task, the more time it will take us. By the same token, the less time we give ourselves to complete a task, the less time it will take us. Ergo, we should give ourselves less time to complete a task since time is of the essence.
How does this work? Why does this hold true?
To be candid, I do not know the innermost concepts that make this true. I can only explain why this is logical by using personal experiences. Think about when you last had an essay due. Your teacher may have assigned you a week or months; either way, you likely procrastinated to the last minute. As you glanced at the clock, you realized the due date was tomorrow and if you did not scrap together something, you would fail epically. In an attempt to reach the deadline, you hastily compose a composition worthy of a passing grade. It may not be stellar writing, but it does the job. Not only was it adequate, but it hardly took you any time. You had written a word over the course of 2 weeks, but when you saw that looming deadline, you finished an essay in 2 hours. Why? My theory is that if we give ourselves ample time, we will take our sweet time and go through the motions leisurely. If you have two hours to complete something and you have completed 20 percent of it in 10 minutes, you tell yourself you can afford to take more time and “ensure perfection”. In reality, you are lying to yourself. The extra time gives you a sense of security and fools you into believing you produced exquisite work. After all, if it took you 10 hours it must be good, right? Wrong. You must remember quality triumphs over quantity and time would best be spent doing things purposefully and deliberately. To test out Parkinson’s law, write down all the things you have to do in a day along with the amount of time you would usually take to do it. Then, subtract 10 percent from each time. For a few days, try to complete these tasks with the new restraints. If you can manage without a reduction in the integrity of your work, then further reduce your time. Keep in mind that you should toy with altered times for a minimum of a few days, because you are bound to struggle for the first day. Therefore, only testing this change for a day would yield inaccurate and unreliable results. It may feel awkward and uncomfortable, but growth never happens when you are in your comfort zone.
Time Boxing
What do Elon Musk and Bill Gates have in common besides the affluence, success, and notoriety? The answer, which I would go as far as to wager is the reason for their other similarities, is Time Boxing, a technique that is free and easy to implement. Time Boxing is when you plan your day using time as a guide, not tasks. You accomplish this by allocating a certain time slot to a task instead of just having a list of work you must do. For example, let’s say I had to do the following in one day.
Do your essay
Clean your room
Walk your dog
Workout
Basic Hygiene and Functions e.g. going to the restroom, brushing your teeth, eating, etc.
Instead of merely telling myself I had to do all of this and completing it on a whim, whenever and however I desire in the moment, I would give myself x amount of minutes and a certain time to complete each tasks, essentially dividing your day in increments. Here is a model using the same tasks as previously mentioned:
9:00 am to 9:15: Get up, read your email, and use the restroom
9:15-9:35: Stretch and do some relaxing yoga
9:35-10: Walk My dog
10-10:50: Write my essay
10:50-11:00: Break
11:00-11:40: Clean my room
As you can see, certain minutes and hours are delegated to each task and every minute is accounted for. The beauty of this system is it ensures you are working with a purpose and not aimlessly going through your days. Adversaries of this method retort that it is extremely rigid and unrealistic. They claim scheduling your day to a T is obsessive and not sustainable over long periods of time. While I can see why one would think this, there are some fundamental flaws to the argument. For starters, time boxing can actually combat obsessive tendencies. Those who adopt time boxing should plan their days out once, carry through with their plans, and not give it any more attention than that. On the other hand, a more traditional approach could become obsessive, albeit in a different way. When you do not plan your days, you can become obsessed with or addicted to procrastination, verbally abusing yourself because you feel so unproductive, etc. I recognize Time Boxing is not for everyone, but it can be conducive for those who need some structure. Structure and planning is not obsessive; it is strategical and efficient. The second gripe critics of the method have is that it is not sustainable. Not only is this unfounded, but the opposite holds true. Time Boxing may seem daunting and taxing now, but once you get started you will never go back. When one sees the success they have and the amount they can accomplish, the ends will justify the means and the modicum of freedom and flexibility will be well worth it.
Tying it All Together
If you have read till this point, I commend you on your ability to stay attentive and absorb useful information. By now, you may have noticed that these methods are all very similar. The reason for this is the same principles underlie every successful approach. There are simply a cornucopia of variations because different individuals discover these techniques through their unique and personal experiences. Feel free to implement the aforementioned methods individually or together. You can use Parkinson’s law when using pomodoros or time boxing by giving yourself less time than with which you otherwise would be comfortable. Additionally, you can blend pomodoros with time boxing by having multiple pomodoros in a day and scheduling specific pomodoro periods. I hope you have learned something valuable today and be sure to test these strategies out, for you will not know the validity of methods if you do not try them.
