Overcoming of labor marathons: 3-step method of increasing productivity, avoiding night work

A sleepless night at work is probably one of the least productive things you can do. With this approach, the quality of work is no good, the body suffers, and productivity in the next few days drops markedly. Therefore, avoid such situations at any cost. From this post, you will learn about the 3-step method of increasing productivity, which you can successfully use to overcome labor marathons without becoming a night owl.

Sometimes it seems that late work is simply inevitable. Maybe the boss threw you a lot of things at 5 pm. Or you have succumbed to procrastination, and now work to catch the deadline for the delivery of the project.
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Whatever the reason, you have a lot of work to do and almost no time. It may seem that the only way out is to stock up on coffee and stay up late. And to make work a source of stress, which will have to go .

Now we will show you a better solution.

From this post, you will learn about the 3-step method of increasing productivity, which you can successfully use to overcome labor marathons without becoming a night owl. He will definitely allow you to completely avoid the need to stay up until late at night and work all night long. We hand over the word to the author of the article.

Spending my first night at work, I did not think about time management or performance. My approach was to pump up caffeine and sugar, and then immerse myself in business and not raise my head until I was done.

It is not surprising that such a tactic gave not very outstanding results ... At first everything went well, but then my concentration decreased, and I began to make stupid mistakes.

A few weeks ago I spent the night without sleep, so that you no longer had to do that! I turned myself into an “experimental guinea pig” to test productivity, energy, and motivation tricks for my All-Nighter Experiment.

I wanted to find the best way to overcome the labor marathons so that you and my clients could completely refuse to work late in the evenings.

1. We start by thinking about the result.

I love to get into things. I like it so much that I often “dive” into them, without having a clear idea of ​​what needs to be done and what I want to achieve.

I know the lack of a plan is a productivity killer, but sometimes I can't do anything about it. Facing the mass of work that requires doing, everyone feels the desire to take on it as soon as possible, without losing a single minute.

After all, if you try to avoid the “night vigil”, you should start as soon as possible, right?

Over time, I learned a difficult lesson from my own experience: before the “immersion”, it is still worth spending a few minutes planning.

Although the goal may seem clear at the beginning of work, you will quickly get stuck in the jungle, trying to remember what you are really trying to do. And lose the idea of ​​the big picture.

It is this problem that the concept of “ Starting with thoughts about the result ” solves.

Its essence is this: before doing something, you need to create a clear description of a specific goal, the achievement of which you are working. Not a hazy view. A meaningful, written statement about what exactly you are trying to achieve, why you are doing it, and how you are going to fulfill your intention.

This will not only help you prioritize, but also give you a simple milestone marking the end of work.

But how to define your goal? What if you work for someone and are not sure what the boss’s request is?

Here is the system that I use to figure out my task.

Step # 1: Understand the situation

The purpose of this step is to turn the chaotic thoughts in your head into something concrete. I achieve this by asking myself a series of questions:

• What am I trying to do?
• Why am I trying to achieve this? OR Why does my boss / client ask me about it?
• Is there a more convenient way to get the same result?

“Why / Why” are as important as “What”. Most people vaguely understand what they are trying to do (for example, to create a PowerPoint presentation), but only a few of them take the next step and wonder why they need it.

Most often you will realize that there is a more convenient way to achieve a similar result. Spending 5 minutes, and asking yourself a series of questions before starting work, you can save a lot of time.

Step # 2: Refine your understanding of the situation.

This step is more appropriate if you are in an office environment and doing work for someone else.
Carefully understand the situation, retell the information received to the one who entrusted you with the work. This will not only give you confidence that you have not missed anything, but will also give managers a second chance to think about what they are asking you.

Perhaps their opinion on some requirements will change, and you will be able to save a lot of time.

Step # 3: Record everything

The last step is to take and summarize everything that you have learned: what you are trying to do, why you need it, and how you are going to achieve what you want.

By completing this point, I really take a piece of paper and write down the answers to these 3 questions. Getting off the road later, I just stop working and return to my goal.

Performing only the three steps described can turn your night marathon into normal work late into the night. But this is not enough, because we want to completely eliminate overtime work. Point 2 will advance your plan one step further ...

2. Planning from scratch

Fine. You have a goal and an understanding of working in what / why / how mode. But you are still not ready to dive.
You need a schedule. What for?

Well, here are a couple of reasons:

1. It will help you estimate how long it will take to complete the entire work. It is much better to know that you are stuck here all night before the marathon begins. So you can ask for help or postpone the deadline and generally avoid the "waking night".
2. A schedule helps you stay on the right track and act effectively. Without it, the clock runs much faster, and the work takes significantly more time than it actually takes.

The strategy I use is called “planning from scratch”.

Scheduling from scratch is a way to turn a 12-hour marathon into a 4-hour sprint, based on removing everything that is not absolutely necessary to achieve the task.

Take a clean sheet of the diary and start adding tasks to it one by one. In addition, each item should be analyzed and evaluated to make sure: without it, it is really impossible to get to the cherished goal.

As a result, you will receive a schedule, from start to finish defining what exactly you will do, in what order, and how long each item will take. If everything is done correctly, you will manage to get rid of a huge amount of unnecessary work, before you even begin to do it.

Here are 3 steps to help with scheduling from scratch. Use them the next time, taking up the mountain of work.

Step # 1: Create a list of all you need to do.

The first step is to break your monstrous project into digestible pieces. For example, the tiny “import file with new data” is much better than the abstract “conduct Excel analysis”. Keep crushing your work until you have a list of small tasks necessary to achieve the goal.

The order of affairs at the moment does not matter. Just make sure the list takes everything into account.

Take a look at the list.

• Is it possible to cut something?
• Does everything need to be done equally well?
• Can I skip some of the items or assign them to someone else?

Remember: concentrate on the final goal and try to ignore your penchant for perfectionism.

If you want to maintain productivity and avoid working at an inopportune time, be merciless and make the list as short, simple and specific as possible.

Step 2: Estimate how much time is required for each task

Go through the list from top to bottom and think about how many minutes each item will take to complete.

Set hard goals.

So you will not only get a reference point, but, adding up the indicated time, you will approximately know when you are free. This is especially useful if you need to finish a job by a certain date. After all, it is much better to immediately understand that you do not have time to deadline than to realize it by the middle of the project, when it is too late to change something.

Step # 3: Arrange the tasks in the desired order.

Take your list and place the items in the order in which they should be performed. Just write next to each number from 1 to n.

Here are a few things to think about.

• Try to place complex cognitive tasks at the top of the list to complete them while your mind is still fresh.
• Do not forget about dependencies: what should happen before / after a certain step?
• Do you need to attract someone else (for example, to create reviews or print)? If so, be sure to leave a time buffer in the schedule.

Depending on the complexity of the project, it may look like a small Gantt chart.

Step 4: Schedule tasks

At this point, you should have a numbered list of tasks, which indicates how long it will take for each of them.

The next step is simple: put them in your diary. I use Google Calendar for this, but you can take something else (we also recommend reading the article on what productivity tools you should not use ). Even a plain sheet of paper. Just start from the moment you are about to start work, and write down each task as a separate item.

If your calculations are accurate, you will have an idea of ​​when you are done, as well as an excellent guideline for evaluating your own work.

Finally, if by this time you understand that you can finish the work on the project only by 14:00 tomorrow, then it’s time to call for reinforcements or to postpone the deadline and abandon the nighttime wakefulness.

Through the use of these two techniques - “We start by thinking about the result” and “Planning from scratch” - you will get a solid work plan.

But planning without action is just a plan.

It's time to get down to business!

3. Technique Pomodoro

The Pomodoro technique turns me into a car that knows no fatigue. I will not go into details of how it works ( here you can learn about the nuances of using technology ). But if you have never heard of it, here is a brief description.

The Pomodoro technique is that the 25-minute stretches of work with high concentration are interspersed with 5-minute breaks, allowing you to refresh and recharge. After every four cycles of labor, you rest longer - from 15 to 30 minutes.

Here is the typical Pomodoro loop:



During the All-Nighter Experiment, I had 20 separate 25-minute work cycles, and I stayed fresh and collected all the time. The whole secret is in the breaks. They help to break away from work and psychologically recharge.

Instead of continuing to talk about the reasons for my love for Pomodoro, I’ll tell you about two little tricks whose use makes the technique even more effective.

Trick 1: Listen to Brain.FM during work blocks.

Brain.FM is an online music service designed to significantly improve concentration, rest and sleep. I always listen to it while working (including right now). This is not really music. Rather, such sounds can be called magical rhythmic noise, immersing me in a hypnotic working trance.

This is much better than listening to ordinary music, because melodies or rhythms tend to distract me.

I will not be able to give a scientific explanation of this idea, but I will definitely say that it suits me perfectly. This is a paid service, but they also have a free trial.

Trick number 2: During the breaks perform exercises

The main mistake people make with Pomodoro is that they have no real breaks. Instead, they take out the phone or open the next tab and scroll through the Facebook feed (in other words , they procrastinate in every possible way, which does not lead to anything good ).

The trouble with this approach is that you don’t give yourself any rest. You still sit staring at the screen, and your brain continues to process information.

My rule for breaks: I have to get up and move away from the table. That's what I do at these moments.

• 5-minute break: go to the toilet, drink, stretch, make a circle around the office, meditate.
• 15-30-minute break: exercise.

I would like to dwell on what I do during the 15-30-minute breaks. Physical education is the best way to wake up the brain and maintain productivity, which I found. It is stronger than coffee and other stimulants I have tried.

Here's what I do: during the 15-30 minute rest, I get up from my chair and do what makes my heart beat faster. This is easily achieved by pushing up, squatting, or jumping on the spot. For office workers, climbing the stairs is a good alternative.

Experts confirm: no matter what you do, just move.

A short 20-minute set of exercises performed just before the exam helps your mind. Physical education contributes to the brain's ability to learn and memorize information, as well as activates creative thinking. We call it neuroplasticity.

Of course, you do not want to tire yourself with a full set of exercises. However, walking, doing a few push-ups, jumping on the spot or other actions that accelerate blood will help guide your brain to the right path:

This is a basic psychological response to millennia of evolution: if prehistoric people, fleeing from danger, would fall asleep on the move, they would hardly have lived for a very long time. The application of physical effort sends the brain signals that you need to be alert and maintain concentration, and not hibernate

That's all. These 3 techniques will help you to overcome the labor marathon and maintain productivity, thanks to the refusal to work late in the evenings.

Full speed ahead

The next time you need to do a lot of things, try using these 3 techniques.

• We start by thinking about the result.
• Planning from scratch.
• Technique Pomodoro.

It's simple. Spend 15 minutes on the first two steps, and then use Pomodoro until you finish the job.

PS We recommend another useful article on the topic of work on yourself - How to achieve increased concentration of attention during the preparation for the tests .

The author of the translation is Vyacheslav Davidenko, the founder of the TESTutor company.