Last Friday, I figured that 24 hrs was not enough for me – there was way too much to do.
So I ran this experiment:
1. I picked a priority task (something I absolutely had to get done).
2. I told myself, ‘Let everything else wait – let me just do this one task for now.’
3. I switched off my phone and started a 50-minute ticking-timer (using a Chrome extension).
4. I then worked on my task without checking email or task-switching. Whenever I remembered something else I wanted to switch to, I jotted it down for later.
5. After each sprint, I took as long a break as I needed – no pressure. And then – repeat.
And here is what happened to the 24 hrs – I didn’t need them! Just after three 50-minute focus sprints, I was saturated and could go no further.
So I took a lunch break and when I restarted, by the 6th sprint, my brain had gone numb – I was done for the day.
And all I could squeeze out was 300 minutes of focused work – just 5 hrs.
Then why do we feel that 24 hrs are not enough?
Because we are mostly doing ‘busy work’ – responding to messages and emails, and doing small tasks – work that keeps us busy but doesn’t change our life.
Forget time management – we have enough time. The resource that is truly limited is your attention.
Your attention is gold – stop wasting it by just being busy.
– Rajan