The ultimate productivity hack
👋 Hey friends, welcome to the first edition of this newsletter! (Would love any feedback you’ve got, just reply)
Balancing a day job, side businesses, and life’s many other demands pushed me to optimize my productivity. After much trial and error, I think I’ve ended up with an ideal system. It's been a game changer for others who’ve tried it, too.
Read on to learn more about it; plus get my new free tool at the end (spoiler, it’s at https://pomo.fm) that automates productive flow for you.
🍅 The key idea: Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique (pasta sauce not included) involves breaking work into 30-minute blocks: 25 minutes of focus followed by a 5-minute break, using a timer to switch. Alternatively, you can do 50-minute work blocks with 10-minute breaks.
For each block, you decide on a single task to laser focus on. After a few consecutive blocks, you take a longer break (e.g. for lunch).
This method alone can increase productivity 2X or more for the same amount of hours worked.
Why it works so well
1. 🛝 Deep Focus > Shallow Focus
Imagine a slide: you enter at the top and exit at the bottom. One path. In contrast, imagine entering an amusement park – there’s endless distractions and paths you could take.
Checking your phone, email, or Slack while working is like entering that amusement park. You might’ve planned on taking 2 minutes to quickly check something, but you’ll likely end up getting distracted and on a different path.
Put on noise-cancelling headphones, set an intention, and start a timer – this puts you on that slide. After 25 minutes, there’s just one possible outcome. You’ll come out the other end having made significant progress.
2. 🏃♂️ Sprints Instead of a Marathon
A friend once told me, "I don’t like taking breaks at work; it means I have to stay later to get my tasks done." But even just four focused Pomodoro sessions (2 hours) can be more productive than a full 8-hour day. I guarantee it – try it for yourself!
Start by committing to 2-4 Pomodoros a day minimum. This baseline leads to consistent progress. Eventually, build up to 12-16 Pomodoros for all day hackathon flow. Unlike the 9-5 grind, this method leaves you recharged and often feeling like you’ve accomplished a week’s work in a day.
3. 🌿 Breaks Heal Your Mind & Body
Regular breaks, ideally every hour, are crucial for your health. Sitting for prolonged time poses significant health risks, regardless of how much you exercise to to offset it. Giving your eyes regular break from screens also helps prevent eyesight deterioration.
Go walk to the park, run to the gym, and have a nice meal during the day. Breaks don’t slow you down; they replenish creativity and energy throughout your day while also improving your health.
4. ⏳ Time-Boxing
Let’s say you start your task, and need to first choose some music to help focus.
Without a timer, finding the perfect focus playlist on YouTube or Spotify could take 10 minutes. With the Pomodoro timer ticking 24 minutes remaining, you’ll choose in 30-60 seconds. A timer forces efficiency and focus in every moment.
5. 🎯 Intention Setting
Set ambitious goals for each Pomodoro session. “Finish the first draft of your article” or “Build an authentication system” might seem impossible in 25 minutes, but the ticking timer spurs unexpected productivity and creative problem solving.
These are the key ingredients of a good productivity system: deep focus, regular breaks, time-boxing, and goal-setting. The Pomodoro Technique incorporates them all into a quick loop.
But there’s a missing piece. One that can be more powerful than all methods combined:
👥 The missing ingredient: Social Accountability
Social accountability is what drives you to meet commitments to your boss, colleagues, teachers, friends, and yourself. It’s a powerful motivator, and I can’t imagine we’d get much done without obligations to those around us. Working with other people can be much more encouraging, productive, and helpful than working in isolation.
My friend Evan Halikias and I developed a tool combining all these elements: a social, synced up Pomodoro timer. We built it for ourselves, and now others use it to stay focused while working remotely, track their goals, and enjoy breaks together. Rather than explain it further, it’s best to try it yourself.
We’ve been using it daily, along with a dozen early testers.
If you’d like to try out the preview, check it out at https://pomo.fm. This link isn’t shared anywhere else yet, but feel free to invite friends.
Thanks so much for reading and subscribing! Any feedback and thoughts are very welcomed.
-Matt