All across the Internet, people are trying to find ways to be productive. And, when they come up with techniques that work for them, they share them with the rest of us.
Sarah J. Bray shared a technique that’s become pretty popular, especially with freelancers and entrepreneurs. But I think it can work for anyone with a little customization.
Bray came up with the technique in a moment of desperation. You see, she had several projects, both personal and professional, on her plate. And she had no desire to work on any of them.
So she found a way to work around her lack of motivation and do some work on her projects every day. And she managed to reawaken her motivation in the process.
Here’s what she came up with.
The 90-Minute Workday
You can read the blog post in which Bray shared her technique on her website. But here are the basics.
First, Bray separated her projects into two groups. In the first group were four time-sensitive projects that needed to get done by a certain day. In the next group were personal projects that weren’t tied to a specific date.
At the start of her workday, she spent an hour working on the time-sensitive projects. And here’s how she did it:
1. She set a timer for 15 minutes and started working with the first time-sensitive project.
2. When the timer went off, she gave herself a choice. If she felt like it, she worked on the first project during the next 15 minute block. But if she’d had enough of that first project, she moved on to the next project on the list.
3. After four 15 minute blocks, that was it. She was done with her time-sensitive projects for the day.
The next day she’d repeat the process, starting with the next time-sensitive project on her list. So if she worked on projects A, B and C one day (working on project C for two 15-minute blocks), she’d start with project D the next day.
After a break, she repeated the process with her personal projects, working on those for two 15 minute blocks.
After working for a total of 90 minutes, she was done for the day, and free to do whatever she wanted.
The Results
According to Bray, when she first started using her technique, 90 minutes a day was all she could manage. But eventually her motivation returned.
She still only committed to working on her projects for 90 minutes a day. After that, she was free to do whatever she wanted. And, sometimes, what she wanted to do was keep working on her projects. And she often ended up doing so for several hours beyond those first 90 minutes.
I’ve used this technique myself, and it can be pretty effective. I especially like using it for maintenance and administrative tasks, like cleaning out email, organizing papers, or cleaning out a closet. I’ll pick four projects and work on them for an hour a day, rotating through them in 15 minute blocks.
It might not seem like you can get much done in just 15 minutes. But, trust me, you can. And those 15 minute blocks of time will really add up.
If you have several projects on your plate, and they feel like they are all at a standstill because you can’t seem to find time for them, why not give this technique a try. Bray goes into more detail about her technique, and shares a few extra tips and tricks, in this blog post:
My 90 Minute Workday
Do you ever feel like you’ve just run out of motivation? What techniques do you use to get the work done even when you don’t feel like doing it?
