MY LIFE IN INTERVALS

Well I guess I should really say my work life in intervals. 20 minute increments at that. Now this might seem silly or impossible. I thought it was ridiculous and just not really a way to function. I mean I have so much stuff to do every day. That is the problem. We force ourselves to do too much stuff each and every day.

Here is the thing. It is totally possible to function in increments and be highly productive. As with all things, this may not work for you. Would it hurt to try? Of course not. Still unsure about all this? Here is some inspiration. Anthony Trollope published 47 novels, 18 works of non-fiction, 12 short stories, 2 plays, and more all in 38 years. Crazy right? Not really. He did it by creating a routine that worked for you. 15 minute intervals for 3 hours a day. (Via: Anthony Trollope)

I gave this a try not too long ago and went through various amounts of time. I finally decided on 20 minutes on and 10 minutes off. Not including lunch. Now you can't just jump into this. There needs to be prep. That prep for me begins at the end of each week. I'll take you through my day.

Sunday Evening – I make a list of tasks that should or need to be completed sometime in the following week. Minus the typical house chores because well we know these need to be done regularly.

Monday – I do my simple morning routine. There will be a post on this later. However part of my morning routine is to decide on the tasks that should, could, need to be completed on this day. I try to keep it around 3 – 5 tasks depending on importance and ease. Then I go through the day completing the tasks in 20 minute intervals. I do not do anything else but the work. I find music that keeps me focused for the task at hand, and I work. Once those 20 minutes are up I take 10 minutes to do whatever. Check mail, Facebook ,etc. I repeat this till I am either finished or it is 4:00/5:00 PM. I run my work life as the business it is. So I choose not to work weekends for now and I don't work past 5:00 PM.

One thing that made a big difference for me, is getting away from the need to check off a list. It was more important that there was progress. So even if a project isn't finished, it's okay. Why? I made progress in those 20 minute intervals. That's what matter. Progress.

So far this has been working very well for me. I am comfortable and I am being more productive that I have ever been. I also don't feel drained mentally or physically at the end of the day. Which leaves me time to take care of my home and myself. I am always able to get in a second round of meditation, some reading time, and other activities that are good for me. This was a pleasant surprise.

How do you make progress every day? Are you following something similar? Share it with me in the comments below.