Let me tell you how I prepared to write this email:
I set a timer on my phone for seven minutes.
Then I sat down at the kitchen table, put my head in my hands, and started to press my thumb against my teeth. I stared out the window… I stared at the sad house plant across from me… I tapped my fingers on the chair. I played the Bee Gees “You Win Again” in my head, and I realized I don’t remember the lyrics. I gradually got more and more antsy, tapping my foot on the floor, looking out the window and trying to peek into the neighbor’s house.
Finally, just as I was ready to jump out of my skin, the timer rang, and my seven minutes were up. I got to work right away.
And that’s the idea I want to share with you.
I once read an article by marketer Sean D’Souza. Sean was talking about how he organizes his work day. He separates his tasks in different blocks. And in between each block, he takes a special kind of break:
He gets down on the floor, puts two books under his head, and just lies there.
I tried Sean’s system exactly, including the two books. But each time, within a minute, the same thoughts raced through my head:
”What the hell am I doing? Why am I lying here? I’m not tired. If I want a break from work, fine. But let me go read a magazine for a minute or check my email or at least wash the dishes.”
That was a mistake. Because whenever I did go do something, well, that would often stretch out into 10, 15, 30 minutes. And at the end of my “productive” break, I’d have to force myself back into work.
I realized only later the essence of Sean’s system.
It’s to do nothing.
Even seven minutes of doing nothing drives me slightly insane. I find I’m eager and thrilled to get to work.
Plus the fact that I haven’t done anything — well, except playing the Bee Gees in my head — this usually allows all kinds of surprising ideas to bubble up. Ideas which would have been suppressed had I gotten external stimulation, even if that meant washing the dishes.
Perhaps this won’t be useful to you.
After all, perhaps you’re not like me. Perhaps you have a deep and broad capacity for work because of ingrained self-discipline. Or perhaps you genuinely look forward to the work you do.
I find I actually enjoy the work I do. Even so, I always feel resistance to getting started, and getting re-started after a break. In my experience, expectation is nothing like experience.
That’s why taking short do-nothing breaks has worked great for me. I get my work done sooner. I do better work, because I get more use of that time of day where I’m good for anything. Plus I find it very easy to convince myself to start doing nothing, and I find it even easier to stop.
So that’s my productivity idea for you. Try out my do-nothing breaks. Or think up your own tricks to work harder, with more focus and intensity.
Because working harder is the difference between huge success and failure.
If you have nothing else going for you, can go far simply by working harder. The good news is, like Gene Schwartz said once, working harder doesn’t mean working longer. In fact, it can even mean working shorter. Or doing nothing at all.
Are you still here?
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