Yesterday I mentioned that one of my tools is my timer. Today Bug asked me to write about it, so here goes. That there in the photo is my timer. I use it when I'm having difficulty getting focused, usually in conjunction with the Unschedule. Usually, I set it for 45 minutes. When I push the green start button, that marks the beginning of 45 minutes of uninterrupted work on whatever project I have chosen. That means: no phone calls, no e-mail messages, no switching to another task. If I allow myself to get interrupted, I have to start over at 45. When my 45 minutes is up I can either keep going or take a break. I also mark down the beginning of the 45 minute period on my unschedule, and then mark it as over when the timer goes off (if I choose to stop). That way I can record 45 minutes of quality work. At the end of the day, I can add up how much focused work I've managed to accomplish. If I decide to continue writing when the timer goes off, which I often do, since getting started appears to be the main hurdle, then I might re-set the timer for another 45 minutes or less. Just as frequently, I take a break to get a cup of tea, do a row or two of knitting, check e-mail, or make a phone call or two, and then get back to work -- of course, I set the timer again and make a note on the unschedule.Sometimes, if 45 minutes seems too long, I'll go for 30. I began using a timer years ago. It helped me to realize that I don't need hours and hours of time in order to get something done. Two or three 30-45 minute periods of uninterrupted work in a day can be amazingly productive. When I was writing my philosophy book, I was completely committed to the timer. For a year, I put in about 3-4 timed periods of writing a day, varying in length from 30 minutes to an hour. As a rule, I made a point of not working any longer than 5 hours (of uninterrupted time) in any given day, and never went more than 20 hours a week (usually less). It took me about 8 months to write a book using that method. I've used it to keep me working through each submission period for the MFA.
I've gone through several different timers -- I used a countdown sports watch for many years. Right now, I'm using a simple digital kitchen timer with an "hour" button and a "minutes" button. If you want 45 minutes, you just hit the "minutes" button 45 times. It also gives you a single beep warning at 10 minutes to go, and again at 5 minutes to go. I use the same thing to time my meditations and my yoga sessions. When we're sailing and I'm cooking on board, I use it to time that. We've also used it to keep track of when to change the person on "watch" during night sailing. When it's not operating as a timer, it's a clock. It runs on a single AA battery. I take it with me when I travel. I can't speak highly enough of my timer. I love it.
5 comments:
That's so funny because on my list of purchases post-residency is a writing alarm clock. Thanks for posting this. I feel like if I hired you to be my life coach, you would get my life in gear in no time. I'm also going to start putting all drafts of my stories into separate boxes so there are hard copies around me to look through and to see what I like/don't like. And I'm getting a magnetic whiteboard to help me organize my novella. Wish me luck. Thanks for the tips!
I, too, love this idea. I'm going to buy one for work, too. I bet focusing like that will help me plow through tasks much faster. One question: what do you do if R comes home/into your space during the 45 mins?
You'll both get great results, I'm sure. As for Bug's question: R rarely comes into my space -- we usually phone each other from our respective areas of the house (we have separate phones, and offices at opposite ends of the house on different floors) or communicate by e-mail during working hours. When I'm on the timer, I don't answer the phone or check e-mail. He knows about my timer, and if he does knock on the door to interrupt I usually say "I've got xx minutes to go and then I'll come out." He's okay with that. If it's urgent, then I stop working and start at 45 minutes again when I can.
Maybe I should do my graduating seminar on work strategies!
That's a great idea, T!
That's a great idea, TI. My version is my morning alarm clock. It has two alarm settings, so one goes off at 6:50, and I hit snooze. When it goes off again I get up and start working - whether it be reading or writing, it is always Lesley work. A second alarm goes off at 8 and that tells me it's time to get ready for work (the 9-5 job version). I used my kitchen timer once but the ticking drove me nuts.
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