One Proven Technique That Will Boost Your Focus at Work

We all feel good when we get things done. But procrastination keeps us from accomplishing our tasks. This article will show you how to win the battle against “Procrastination”

Introduction

All of us have obligations and tasks that need to be completed within a certain time span. Some of them we love to do and some of them we don’t. But whether we like it or not, the fact is, we need to get them done. It could be a school assignment you need to submit tomorrow morning, a list of jobs your boss gave you to finish before 5PM, a website that needs to be launched within a week, or ten household chores your mom asked you to complete before your visitors arrive.

There is another fact regarding this. When we accomplish our tasks, whether we love doing them or not, we feel a sense of accomplishment. We tend to celebrate upon the completion of tasks we hate and we also do the same when we complete tasks we love doing.

But we don’t always get to celebrate. A lot of times, we fail to complete our tasks. This causes stress and disappointments. In my observation, there are three reasons why we fail to complete tasks:

• We hate doing them and will wait until the last hour/minute to start working on them.
• We love to do our tasks but we lack the organizational skills to complete them. We tend to multi-task rather than working on them one at a time.
• The deadline is simply too short for the amount of tasks to be done.

For the last reason, when the deadline is obviously too short (like building a Facebook Clone in 2 days), I suggest negotiating the time with whoever you are accountable with.

The next section discusses the solution to the first and second reasons.

Getting things Done Quickly is Possible

Procrastination is a big problem. It’s something that keeps us from reaching our full potential. And in my opinion, multi-tasking, is also as big a problem as procrastination. Why? It also keeps you from reaching your full potential.

The good news is, these problems can be solved with organizational skills and focus. And a much better news is, you don’t need to be extremely smart to do this!

I’m sure everyone has experienced doing a project or studied for an exam just the night before the deadline. I certainly have — many times when I was a student. Weeks or days before, you didn’t feel any sense of urgency to do it. Maybe you just work on it for a few minutes and enjoy more. But look at what happens to you when you work the night before! Recall how quickly you were working and how creative you became.

During that time, you were a superhuman with great organizational skills. You knew how to prioritize and remove distractions. You were amazing! You probably were the fastest man alive during that time.

Now think about this. If only you could work as quickly as that superhuman you were on “crunch time”, just imagine the things you could accomplish! Imagine a life full of accomplishments and successes!

All you need to do is to awaken that superhuman in you to complete your tasks quickly.

Racing the Clock

We’ve already established that you can work quickly when a short (but appropriate) deadline is facing you. So why not replicate the situation? No, I’m not suggesting on doing your tasks just the night before the deadline. What I’m suggesting is, impose a deadline on yourself. That simple. “But a self-imposed deadline is not a real deadline. I still won’t get motivated on doing it”, you might say. Oh no, just do it.

Here’s how to do it:

Write down all the tasks you need to complete today and tomorrow.
The act of writing down your tasks is already the first step to becoming organized. Having a to-do list is very important in order for you to know exactly what you need to get done.

Prioritize your tasks.
If you’re writing on paper, write a number on the right of each task which will signify the order the tasks should be completed. I will discuss the tools you can use on the section below.

Put a time limit for each task and work on it alone until it’s done
This is called time chunking. This is the method that will bring out your superhuman alter-ego. One popular time chunking method is the Pomodoro Technique. This technique is very simple. Work on the tasks on your list one at a time for 25 minutes each. The goal is to beat the clock. You must finish before 25 minutes. When the 25 minutes is over, take a rest for 5 minutes then do the next task for 25 minutes again. The pair of 25 minute work and 5 minute rest is considered as one Pomodoro.

The standard Pomodoro is 25-minutes work and 5-minutes rest, but you don’t need to follow it. If you need more time for a task, let’s say 40 minutes, you can do can do so. You can also increase the number of minutes in your rest.

Why Racing the Clock Works

• It keeps you focused on only the task at hand, we know that focus is the secret to being productive.
• It fights multi-tasking and procrastination since you know you need to finish it in a limited time.
• It gives you a time constraint and, as the guys at 37 Signals have very well said, “Less is a good thing. Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you’ve got. There’s no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.”
• It keeps us motivated to do a boring work since we have a reward in the form of rest at the end of a task.
• It brings out your superhuman alter-ego.

Personal Testimony

I was a very disorganized person. Sometimes I still struggle until now. But each time I am faced with this problem, I just go ahead and “race the clock” and it always works. In my previous story, I discussed my journey on time-management and how I built a tool to help me solve my problem.

I shared the Pomodoro Technique (not in it’s strict form) to some of my friends and they found it very useful. In fact, one friend said who could code faster using the Pomodoro Technique since he isn’t tempted to play youtube videos while working because he has a timer to beat.

Tools You Can Use

There are so many tools you can use. It doesn’t matter what you use as long as you do it correctly but there are just some tools which will make your life easier. So choose whatever tools that fit your lifestyle and situation.

Traditional Tools

• Notebook / Post-it Notes
• Pen / pencil
• Countdown timer

Desktop Sticky Note Software

• Simple Sticky Notes — it’s something I use for note taking but can be used as a to-do list
• Cool Timer — a simple countdown timer software
• Free Desktop Timer

Mobile Applications

• Begin — a lightweight iOS to-do list app
• CountDown Timer — iOS countdown timer
• Todoist — to-do list app for Android Devices
• Kitchen Timer — Android Countdown Timer App

Web Applications

• Pomodoro Timer Online — a free online Pomodoro Timer ( no to-do list )
• Todoist — An online to-do list app. If you want many features, this app is for you.
• Remember the Milk — Similar with Todoist.
• Race To-do List — A very simple and straightforward to-do list web app. The best thing about this app is that it has a built-in countdown timer. No need to use two different apps (to-do list and countdown timer) since both are the heart and soul of this web app. If you want ease-of-use, use this app.