Zimpapers Logo

email, close all windows on my computer and let the phone go to voicemail if it rings.
I typically get more work done during those 90 minutes and feel more satisfied with my output than I do during the rest of the day.
It can be tough on some days to fully focus for 90 minutes, but I always time myself, which makes it easier.

I settled for this routine this because I discovered a long time ago that my energy, will and capacity for intense focus diminishes as the day wears on.
Anything really challenging that I put off tends to remain unfinished, and it is the most difficult work that tends to generate the greatest enduring value.

Looking back, I probably spent more time avoiding real work. Instead, I spent an inordinate amount of time and energy making lists, responding to email, answering the phone, and keeping my desk clean and my files incredibly well organised.

For this to work one needs to build highly precise, deliberate practices, done at specific times so they eventually become automatic and don’t require much expenditure of energy or self-discipline akin to brushing your teeth at night.

I normally deliberate on the next day’s work the night before because I do not want to squander energy thinking about what to do during the time I have set aside to actually do the work.

I define “important” as whatever it is I believe will add the most enduring value to me if it is done.
More often than not, that means a challenge that is “important but not urgent”, to use Steven Covey’s language.

These are precisely the activities we often put off — in favour of those that are more urgent, and easier to accomplish, and provide more immediate gratification.
I start at a very specific time, because I discovered early on that if I did not stick to my timelines I tended to procrastinate.

“Oh wait,” I would tell myself, “I am just going to answer this email,” Before I knew it, I would have answered a dozen emails, and by that time a half dozen more would have arrived, leaving me distracted.

Finding an excuse to avoid hard work isn’t hard to do. I work for 90 minutes because that is what the research suggests is the optimal human limit for focusing intensely on any given task.

Researcher Peretz Lavie and others have found out that this is the “ultradian rhythm” that governs our energy levels .
During the course of the 90 minutes when we are focused we move from a relatively high state of energy down into a physiological trough.

I do not get it right every day, but this single practice has been life-changing for me.
Try it for one week.

Nyaradzo Mavindidze, a motivational speaker, is the Managing Consultant at Avodah Consultants, which specialises in soft skills training and coaching. For feedback email [email protected]