You can do anything for 24 minutes. You can even write and publish a blog post (we shall see). Why 24 minutes you might ask, well I don’t have a good reason for choosing this number, it just seemed a reasonable amount of time that I could work productively before needing a break.
And the truth is, it’s working! I’m using a very simple tool that you can find by typing “timer” in a google search bar. I set 24 minutes on the Google Timer when I need to focus on a task, for example, writing. As you can see it’s as simple as setting the time and pushing start. A lovely little beep sounds when the timer has expired.
Now you would think I chose this tactic for productivity, which in essence I have, but more importantly I chose it to remind myself to get out of my chair. Sitting is not my thing. Sitting does not agree with my back, my energy level, my attention span and now as I am getting a tiny bit older, I am also finding it does not agree with my eyesight. I apparently forget to blink when staring at a computer screen.
image courtesy of Fish Tank Bank.
So, I took it upon myself to solve this problem by working in 24 minute increments. A Microsoft study on attention span however relays this alarming fact that Americans really only have an eight second attention span! Apparently eight seconds is less than the attention span of a goldfish though I’m not clear how they tested the fish!
Regardless I stand firmly behind my 24 minute timer (pick the amount of time that works for you) as it allows me to do something very important, get up and move. I have also given myself a 24 minute social media limit that one can be surprisingly challenging. I can check, post and comment on all of my social media quite easily in 24 minutes provided I don’t get sucked in by a video, or start reading a ridiculous string of comments on an issue I really hold no interest!
Five minutes left for this post so I will give you the down and dirty of what I did when the timer sounded today:
- Exercise 10 jumping jacks, 10 push ups, I use this when I don’t want to leave the room or lose my focus.
- Add, change, fold a load of laundry
- Decide what is for dinner
- Call my mother
- Go to the mailbox
- Kick the dogs ball
- Bathroom break
- Jump in the shower
- Write a Blog Post… I did it Ta Da!!!
