Everyone wants to work smarter, not harder. No reason not to do both, really, but smarter seems so much more appealing sometimes because it requires less work. The free lunch at the end of that rainbow isn’t always as tasty as we might imagine, but once in a while there is a fundamental change one can make to really get more from their effort.
This was illustrated for me this week.
All week I’ve been trying to fit in time to work on Cruise Sheet. I’ve needed the internet to work on the next chunk, so my long flights were out. Instead I’ve carved up an hour here or there, but it felt as though no real progress had been made.
Today I had a solid four hour chunk of uninterrupted work. I know that large blocks of time are the best, and I always talk about it, but I don’t always act on it. Maybe it’s cockiness that makes me think I can spin up quickly and do work in small chunks.
The truth is that I got more done in those four hours than I had in my previous ten one-hour blocks. Easily. I feel like I’m much closer to my goal now, whereas before I felt like I was barely walking towards it.
It’s worth rearranging your time to get those large blocks, at least for focused work like writing and programming. That’s why I like cruises so much: I don’t look forward to anything on them as much as having a full day with no interruptions.
When scheduling, choose a three hour block over five single hour blocks. It feels irresponsible, but it’s important to prioritize progress over productivity. Better to take every day off except one, and work all day, than to work for just two one-hour blocks each day.
Give it a try, if you don’t have good blocked-out time already.
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Photo is a port in Cherbourg.
Just got off the boat. Just saw three Vermeers in UK! Heading to Dublin tomorrow, and then back to Las Vegas!
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