Task & Timer

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Task & Timer bgfay - March 23, 2020

Here's my situation:

I can’t seem to get myself going this morning. There are some things I could, maybe should be doing, but none are really of much use and most are dependent on communicating with others so I send email and wait for replies. Everyone is dealing with stuff and my email isn't top priority. Nor should it be. I have brief moments of productivity between long stretches of nothing to do.

Maybe you can relate.

I'm not complaining, just trying to find a way to deal with the way things are. Since I'm not alone in having this problem, maybe we can test-drive a possible solution. You'll need a task and a timer.

  • Task: Write a blog post
  • Timer: 45 minutes

One issue with working from home is boundless time.

Yesterday, I had five important tasks to do and finished before noon. Today, there wasn't even that much, so I read the news. Big mistake on two levels:

  1. The news was the idiot man-child in the White House complaining that the virus is lasting longer than his short attention span.
  2. Online, I fall into a spiral of clicking, clicking, clicking on nothing, nothing, nothing hoping to be rescued by something onscreen. Rescue never comes from the screen. It comes from within and involves shutting the screen.

(I'm typing this on a screen but in a minimal editor set to full-screen mode and free of distractions.)

When in doubt, block computer/phone distractions, assign a task, set a timer, and work for the allotted time.

I may not finish this post before the timer sounds. That's fine so long as I keep going for forty-five minutes, as long as I'm working and focused long enough to pass the points of frustration.

I'm most likely to abandon things out of frustration within the first fifteen minutes. Past that, I usually stay with the task and make something of it.

Here's my confession: I tried to quit this post twice already. At two minutes in and again at twelve minutes, I gave up. Both times I went toward checking email and news, but the timer called me back. I still have time on the clock, I told myself and kept going.

Having nearly finished, I'm not sure I've created much of anything, but staying with the timer is worth something to me.

Maybe it's worth something to you.

I'm home with my wife and kids, dog and cats, daily calls to my mother and brother, email from friends, and my work. Working entirely from home this way is quite a shift and a tough balance. I'll need time to grow accustomed. Having one specific task and a timer helps.

My timer, by the way, is up. I'm off that clock. Time for a break. Maybe a few push-ups to get the blood flowing. Then I'll set another timer, start at the top, and revise this into a post.

Setting the timer for this one task got me going. How cool is that?

What are you doing to adjust to working from home? Leave a comment below. Let's talk.

The idea for timed writing comes from Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down The Bones and Peter Elbow's Writing Without Teachers to name just two writing books that suggest it.

The idea for using a timer in this way also comes from the New York Times piece "Letter of Recommendation: Kitchen Timer" by Ben Dolnick that I have copied here for those lacking a Times subscription.

Good Advices

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I had a neighbor whom I asked for advice once. He was a lawyer and said, "free advice is worth what you pay for it." He was also cheating on his wife and left her suddenly and hurtfully, so screw him.

Advice given well is a good thing. How can one give advice well? Give it as though it were a gift. The person receiving it can take it or not, keep it or return it as they see fit. That's the way I'm giving the following.

Most important: Listen to Cuomo not Trump. I know this sounds like politics, but if you have been watching both of them you know which one is being reasonable, thoughtful of others, and depending on experts. Cuomo is telling the truth. Don't be fooled by charlatans.

Astronaut Mark Kelly writing in The New York Times says "I spent a year in space, and I have tips on isolation to share. Take it from someone who couldn't: Go outside." For those not wanting to read the whole thing, here are the bullet points:

  • Follow a schedule (Get up, go to bed, and have dinner together at the usual times.)
  • But pace yourself (Take time to have fun. Take time to do nothing. Breathe.)
  • Go outside (But don't do crowds. Don't visit friends in person. Walk the dog.)
  • You need a hobby (Be creative.)
  • Keep a journal (Writing is just the greatest.)
  • Take time to connect (Call your parents. Call your kids. Call everyone you love.)
  • Listen to experts (Not those who pose as experts.)
  • We are all connected (For better and worse. Help each other. Don't infect one another.)
  • And wash your hands — often (More often than you think you should.)

And then there's Leo Babauta who talks about how to cope:

  1. Breathe deeply into the belly (Learn this and you'll feel a real difference.)
  2. Check on your feelings, give yourself compassion (Say okay to your feelings.)
  3. Find calm in the middle of a storm (Find it within you and maybe in a quiet space or practice.)
  4. Send compassion out to others (Once you're in a better place, share that with others.)

There's more of course. Share back with me the best things you advise.

Take care of you and yours.

(You might want to listen to R.E.M.'s Good Advices. That always makes me feel good.)