Through all my career I was striving to be more productive, and tried many different instruments. Let me share with you one of the most effective tools that I used:
Three safety matches technique.
This technique, albeit widely known among engineers in my country, is rarely implemented anywhere else. (At least I never saw or heard of its implementation, for example in office workspace).
Its simple - buy a safety matches box. When you sit down in the morning at your desk, take three matches and lay them in front of you. Near them lay down a rule on a small sheet of paper: “The break is allowed every 45 minutes for 5 minutes plus 1 hour lunch time”
And every time you for some reason distract yourself from work, you break one match.
Just to clarify the term “distraction”. Small talk with colleagues counts as a distraction. (Solving the work-related questions doesn't.There is a difference between the two, just so you know =) ) Checking your phone and (especially!) social media counts as a distraction. Refilling your coffee cup before the allowed rest time counts as a distraction. And so forth.
Only three safety matches per day are allowed. If all three are broken, then the day counts as “empty”.
What does it do?
Firstof all, it's a measurement system. It allows you to track down your “distractions”.
Second, it applies a certain psychological pressure to you, not to run out of matches, thus living “full” day instead of “empty” and gain a little bit of dopamine as a result.
Third, as a result of the previous two, you can accomplish more per day, not because you put extra effort into your work, but because you eliminate “noise” and can concentrate more on your tasks.
Forth - in the long term, you improve your ability to focus.
In the end, only one thing that counts in life - your time.
Did you do it yourself?
I implemented this system for almost a year in my life, before it became obsolete. Like I didn't break a single match in three months. And through the power of optimization and automatizing (which I will describe in great detail in coming articles), now I have to work for only one hour per day, to earn my salary. This one hour of compressed and highly productive work solves all routine things that I have to deal with, leaving more space to my own goals be it education or writing or drawing or anything else.
So what?
Minimizing “noise” in your work, and long-term improvement of your focus ability will tremendously upgrade your quality of living and will give you an ungodly economic advantage. (very few people have the ability to truly focus on their tasks and accomplish them in minimal time and that quality is very appreciated by clients).
“The most important investment you can make is in yourself” said Warren Buffet. And I completely agree.
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