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Definitely had a similar experience When I was still working from home. Working for 30-45 minutes and then play video games, work out, and even just clean the apartment.

A tea timer by your desk is a great way to approach this at work, personally I find 15 - 20 minutes of work 5 minutes of procrastinating is good balance.

Perhaps without realizing that, but essentially you've just described the Pomodoro Technique, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique :-)

It was also my technique for studying for exams through university: 45 minutes of focussed study, followed by a 15 minute break for tea, lunch or fun things. After six of those, I could stop knowing that I had a day well spent. (And as a bonus, I mastered 3-ball juggling after my Algebra-I exam ;-)

) ... sorry

Thanks, I was wondering why this page wouldn't compile.

No, no, doesn't matter. I was just making you aware that your technique also had a name.

They were just closing the open parenthesis, which cannot be closed with a smiley face. I actually appreciated your contribution, I've heard of that technique before, and remembered it when reading, but couldn't recall the name, so thanks :)

no, because pomodoro is when you have defined task that can completed in the allotted time.

Well, although that rule could be useful, it is not part of the technique.

For proof, read the official description on Pomodoro, e.g. on http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/download/pdf/ThePomodoroTec.... You'll see (page 6-7) that after a first 'Pomodoro' (unit of time) work on the same task can continue into a second or third pomodoro.

"The trick is that if you aren't worried about finishing the task you want to do"

Oh my god, that sounds like putting the finger RIGHT on the sore spot... I always have a fear of finishing something and it's a bit of a problem for me. Thanks for sharing this!

Hm, yeah I think I have that to.

I can't ever finish anything because then what??

I did try FocusBooster for a while and now I'm trying Pomodoros. I think my problem is that I try to go hardcore with it at first and work for a solid 10 hours. Then I burn out from it and don't work for the whole rest of the week.I like the idea of going back to video games or whatever on a more short term basis.

Yes - do that and don't feel guilty about it. If procrastination were a disability, then what you do during the breaks would be reasonable accommodations :)

I haven't tried FocusBooster, but lately I've been trying Focus@Will, which plays music mixed in ways to keep you focused. Seems to be working pretty well for me.

There was a famous marshmallow experiment out of Stanfard looking at self-control. It's been followed with many other related studies. One recently had two groups of students do a mental task (if my memory serves, one group had to add or memorize 2-digit numbers, the other group had to add or memorize 7-digit numbers). As the students left the cognitive activity area, they were offered a snack and could choose between fresh fruit or chocolate. The students with the easier cognitive task more often than not chose the fresh fruit, while the students with the harder cognitive task tended toward the chocolate. Again, if memory serves, it was a pretty strong correlation.

The points being, (a) at any given moment we have a limited amount of self-control, and (b) that limited amount of self-control extends beyond any single given task or situation.

We can increase our overall self-control (e.g., focusing for five minutes can be increased to focusing for five hours), but not significantly in a short period of time (e.g., it might take years to increase a persons ability to focus from a five minute period to a five hour period.

you are probably talking about this: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870347870457461...

> If you believe the stats on worker productivity that get tossed around here, 3 hours a day of solid work isn't terrible.

I'm not sure saying that is the right way to motivate people :P

This is a great mind trick. I use e.ggtimer.com to help me manage my tasks/time.