A Second Productivity Trick Tip

So, is your mind still playing tricks on you when it comes to getting stuff done? The old, 'I'll just look at this new blog post my favourite blogger has put up for two minutes - it could be be quite useful to my business so it's really completely justified' trick? Oh, I know that one all right - it's the one where you look up from the computer screen two hours later, a little dazed and bleary-eyed, having surfed the whole entire internet and achieved precisely zero to show for it.

Or there's the, 'I'll make myself a cup of coffee before I get down to work,' trick - the one that leads to thinking 'Boy, this place is getting a little grubby!' as you stand waiting for the kettle to boil. Forty minutes later you've disinfected the work surfaces, de-crumbed the cupboards, got every bit of mould out of the washing machine seal and generally hosed the place down. All worthy stuff... and none of it immediately urgent, or on your to-do list for the day. The to-do list that you might as well screw up and throw away, because there's no way you'll have enough time for half of it now... But you've been so good, you might as well cut a slice of cheesecake to go with that cold coffee. Heck, it's not as if you're going to get anything done work-wise today. But the kitchen looks good!

Not to mention the 'Well, this is my favourite show, and I really need a little relaxation time, but I'll be extra productive after I've watched it... and the one that follows which I don't like quite as much, but it's a pretty good episode...' trick. Never mind the facts that;

a) It's a repeat! Let me repeat that! It's a repeat!

b) You have it on DVD! (I'm tempted to repeat that one too).

Oh, and c) - if you were really interested you wouldn't be surfing the net/flicking through a magazine/wandering off to put the kettle on again while it was on.

What's wrong with all these mind-tricks? Well, to start with, if anyone's going to be playing tricks, it should be you playing them on your mind, not the other way around. Plus, there's nothing wrong with breaks. I'm not saying anyone should be working till they drop. It's out of control breaks that are the problem. Breaks that drag on longer and longer, till you're breaking longer than you're working.

What kind of breaks should you be taking? Micro-breaks! Maybe an hour free for lunch - tops, I would say - but other than that, anything longer than five minutes qualifies as a loooong break.

Why take a break at all? Well, if you can work solidly for, say, three to five hours, then I take my hat off to you for you're a good man (Charlie Brown),¹ and a better man than I am, Gunga Din.² Even though I'm a woman. However, if you're of the 'babysteps' mindset (and god bless whoever invented the term and the concept),³ then sometimes the only way to get anything done is to get tiny little portions of a task done at a time.

Which is fine, if it gets done in the end. And it will - as long as you're not taking twenty-minute breaks in between five minute stretches of sweated labour. Remember, 10 minutes' work + 2 minutes' net-surfing and tuneless whistling + 10 minutes' work = GOOD. 2 minutes' work + twenty minutes' fiddling with your iPod + 2 minutes' work = VERY VERY BAD INDEED.

People, get those breaks under control - set a timer if you have to - and you'll really start getting things DONE!

1 Gesner, Clark, 1967, Random House, 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown: Based on the comic strip Peanuts'.
2 Kipling, Rudyard, 1892, 'Gunga Din'.
3 Baucom, John Q., 1997, Starburst Publishers, 'Baby Steps to Success: 52 Vince Lombardi-Inspired Ways to Make Your Life Successful'.