But even on a short term basis, without including all the long term project management, it is rather remarkable how much you can do in a 5 or 7 minutes focused productivity dash. The practice is very simple: write down one thing 6 you want to do, and why it is important. Then break it down into atomic steps, i.e. the physical action you do. So instead of writing down “work on essay”, instead write down: 1. open up text editor 2. Open document X 3. Scan through chapter 7 of that document 4. See what points are interesting enough to add to my text 5. Write down those main points in my text editor 6. Pick one of them and elaborate into a paragraph
The first actions definitely need to be very small and very explicit in order to get through the first minutes, which are the hardest because of friction and our tendency to not enjoy effort. As you build momentum you might find yourself more hindered by the process of describing what you want to do in such specific ways, as opposed to simply doing the things you want. But then again, if you find yourself losing momentum, it might be worthwhile to once again break tasks into small, explicit, physical actions.
Not everything can be accomplished within the span of a 7 minutes dash, but it is quite astounding how much headway you can make by being totally focused during that small period of time, by virtue of having removed all the decisions and simply focusing on what needs to be done. For instance, I write these journals while I am at work, in the cracks of time between tasks, and I find it incredibly pleasant to write once I know what I want to talk about.
Another aspect that helps with productivity is to make it easier for your future self: list out what is done, what is half-done and important, and what is nice to finish but not essential. Also, make your documents more pleasant to scan through, which can include making them more visually attractive, and better separated in terms of ideas, i.e. not an indigestible slab of text with no rhythm and spacing.
Bigger projects are essentially relay races with yourself, but at different points in time. The different ‘you’s will be more or less tired, more or less motivated, and ultimately, they are not the current ‘you’. It is important to remind yourself what is important, what direction you want to take something, what is the minimum viable product and what are the nice but non-essential touches to have, etc.
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2024-06-21