Boost Your Productivity With 20-Minute Intervals

You've got a lot to do, and feel the time pressure for the work ahead. You've cleared your desk, have your notes at hand, and now it's time to get the job done. Are you able to focus for several hours or do you find you need a break before the first hour has passed?

J.D. Meier, a project manager with distributed teams and productivity blogger, thinks workers would be better off to aim for 20-minute focus periods. He offers the following advice.

"The key is to know that sustained thinking takes energy, and it burns out. To address this, take breaks to recharge and renew. Five-minute breaks are a great way to stay focused."

Meier has other tips to increase productivity at your desk.

1. Prioritize: Each week determine the three most important wins for the week, your daily activities will mostly support those wins.
2. Visualize: See the end in mind - have a mental picture of what you want to accomplish
3. Manage Distractions: To rid your mind of distracting and conflicting ideas dump them into an email addressed to yourself and send it once a day.
4. Organization: Shelve projects you are not currently working according to your weeks priorities. Don't juggle 8-9 projects, focus on three. Meier creates project folders on his desktop and files projects not being worked on in a folder called Shelved.
5. Think how time spent aligns with priorities and benefits. "You shouldn't spend an hour on a $1 problem."

Do you have a desk-time productivity tip to share? We'd would be interested in your feedback and ideas.

Source: The Globe & Mail, July 22, 2013, How to Focus in 20-Minute Bursts | Harvey Schachter

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