E01 | Ditching Your Smartphone vs. Using an Egg Timer

Published in

The Launch Pad

3 min readOct 28, 2019

NOTE: This is a past episode of The Betterment Experiment. You can listen to all episodes of the podcasts here: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify.

In this inaugural podcast episode of The Betterment Experiment, Rocketbook co-founders Joe and Jake argue about a vital component of daily productivity: focus.

“I think you’re treating the symptom, and not the cause of your lack of focus” — Jake (14:01)

Joe is pitching the Pomodoro Method, (3:20) which uses the physical aid of a ticking kitchen timer to keep you focused on one task at a time. Meanwhile, Jake is pitching Everyday Unplugging (7:16), suggesting that reducing your smartphone usage will keep you from getting distracted.

IN THIS EPISODE

POMODORO METHOD

This focus technique works like this: organize your day into 25-minute chunks broken up with 5 minute breaks. Then, after 4 of these cycles, take a longer 15-minute break.

Following this structured schedule prevents you from multitasking (which humans are notoriously bad at), and instead funnels your focus into one actionable task. Additionally, the countdown of a physical timer creates a sense of urgency and forces you to work efficiently, while the 5-minute breaks prevent that mid-afternoon burnout.

“If you have 8 hours of work, it can be pretty daunting. But if you break it up, you can do anything for 25 minutes.” — Joe (4:15)

The drawbacks of this method, besides the silliness of carrying around a ticking kitchen timer with you, is that the 25-minute chunk may not be long enough to give larger products the attention they require. To remedy this, Joe advocates customizing the method by altering the length of each chunk to fit your needs.

EVERYDAY UNPLUGGING

This focus technique works like this: limit your daily smartphone usage to one hour or less.

Eliminating the time spent scrolling through social media feeds, browsing the web, and watching videos on your handheld supercomputer will not only free up time for more important tasks but also helps reduce your stress and anxiety.

“You think it’s a great idea to have a supercomputer in our pocket that we refuse to use!?” — Joe (12:56)

This method can be tough, especially as smartphones have become a staple for surviving daily life. Considering this, Jake notes that phone calls and text messages are still permissible for “unplugged” living.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN

(00:00) — Intro
(00:44) — Everyday Unplugging
(01:09) — Pomodoro Method
(01:45) — Discussion
(08:06) — Debate
(13:35) — Summary of focus techniques
(13:47) — Vote on the winner at votegetrocketbook.com
(14:28) — Outro

HELP US GET BETTER

Suggest a topic for a future episode OR Ask us questions to answer on the podcast! Email us at hello@getrocketbook.com

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