The Mind is Willing: A Productivity Trick

Wednesday was a hard day for me. Some generous friend had gifted me a video game I very much want to play until my eyes fall out, and the prospect of doing anything else was terrible. But I'm a responsible adult, I know how to prioritize. I will be good and get my work done!

So I sat in my office chair and started looking at my roster of industry blogs. Then I started watching a video on youtube, then I found myself on Reddit, and two hours into the day I hadn't done a single productive thing. My to do list was glaring at me from it's stand, jealous and alone. Taking a cue from one of my favorite cleaning blogs Unf*ck Your Habitat (the link is SWF, but f-bomb and other swears abound, so beware), I decided to set the standard UFYH 20/10 work/relax schedule.

For 20 minutes I banged out the things on my to do list, moving swiftly from one task to the next, not stopping to check social media or stare longingly out the window at the beautiful blue, ocean-adjacent sky, just work without pause. And for 10 minutes I played my video game, deftly dispatching all alien scum. Usually with headshots.

Despite the fact that I started two hours late, despite the fact that I also stopped working at 5:30 (unheard of in this house), Wednesday was actually one of the most productive days of the week. Amazing. I was, however, completely wiped out at the end of the day. More exhausted than usual, so I'm only going to reserve this tactic for the really bad days where motivation just. won't. happen. But I was well and truly amazed at how much I could get done in 20 minutes.