GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK AND WORK SMARTER
YOUR ability to focus may be limited to 4 or 5 hours a day. Here’s how to work around that.
My mind gets a little fuzzy when I concentrate for too long. So, to protect my focused time, I rearranged my life, trading a steady salary as a multimedia journalist covering the tech world for flexibility as a freelance writer focusing on health and wellness. Working less, not more, holds the key to my productivity.
I do the bulk of my work in four or five 55-minute chunks throughout the day, taking half-hour breaks when my mind starts to wander. This schedule puts me in good company. Although there’s not much hard science behind it, a lot of productivity gurus push the idea that we get our best work done with four or five hours of focus a day.
Such a schedule is not uncommon among the accomplished, according to Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, a Silicon Valley writer and consultant who specialises in productivity. Alice Munro, Charles Darwin and Gabriel García Márquez are among the creative people with similar habits, a topic Pang dedicated a chapter to in his 2016 book, Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less.
T he 4-to-5-hour sweet spot sounds about right to Kalina Michalska, a developmental neuroscientist.
“We’ve all been under a lot of stress and anxiety for the past year,” said Borna Bonakdarpour, a behavioural neurologist. “That, by itself, affects our focus.”
Pandemic aside, Bonakdarpour said the main culprits behind our limited ability to focus are cognitive overload and energy use.
Of course, some of the work we do doesn’t require 100% of our attention, Bonakdarpour added.
“That’s why you can kind of get through even when you’re tired,” he said. “But as a general principle, your brain is functioning at a lower level.” Studies show that as our focus slides, we’re less motivated, make more mistakes and get distracted easily.
If we only have four or five hours of peak attention in a normal workday, how can we optimise
them? Here are some tips.
Work in chunks
Michalska first tried the Pomodoro method: You work for 25 minutes, then rest for 3 to 5 minutes. After four of those blocks, you take a half-hour break. But she found herself more focused on the timer than her work. “I try to do 45 minutes, and then I take a break.”
Schedule your breaks
Michalska takes 5-minute rests after her working blocks, making sure she leaves extra time for lunch. She recommends planning your week with your downtime as a priority. “I would put in the breaks first,” she said. “Put in the run, the lunch, the break. Otherwise, you’re never going to do it.”
Avoid work during your downtime
Bonakdarpour goes for a walk during his breaks, because activity boosts blood flow and brain function. But a conversation with a colleague can also help, he said. Just make sure you don’t talk about work.
Add more rest when you overwork
We all have days or weeks when deadlines pile up. But your concentration doesn’t have to suffer if you occasionally overwork. In fact, deadline crunches can sharpen your focus and help you work faster.
Figure out your most creative time and protect it
You probably have a certain time of day when you’re most productive. If possible, tell your boss and colleagues you’re going to set aside those hours for focused work, and you’ll get to your other work outside that time.
Keep tabs on your productivity
“Every 15 minutes, jot down what you’re actually doing,” Michalska said. It’ll show you how often you make a snack or check social media when you think you’re working.
Guard against interruptions
Limit your distractions; research has found that it can take 30 to 60 seconds to refocus on a task when your attention is diverted. I set “do not disturb” time on my devices. I don’t get alerts for emails, SMSes or news headlines.