Thanks for sharing these, Katie! I'm a part-time grad student supporting a team of 35 people in my full-time job, so I'm always looking for new techniques for time (and stress) management. I'm personally a fan of the Forest app, which lets you set custom-length timers for your focus time. The app plants a virtual seed and grows a tree during the time you specify, and if you pick up your phone/open other apps, it kills the tree - I know it's not real, but even that little bit of tangibility is enough to motivate me to leave my phone alone!
One of the most helpful discoveries I’ve made recently is to embrace my computer’s (and phone’s) “Do Not Disturb” feature.
I’m so vulnerable to the constant slacks, emails, alerts, texts – and being a fellow “obliger,” I find it difficult not to respond in that moment. (The small dopamine hits from the alerts also don’t help, it’s like the neurological version of empty calories!)
Enabling DND for an hour here and there with an intention to focus on an important task has done wonders!
I love to listen to music while I work, even as I am preparing my mind to write. It helps a lot! I also have to write a to-do list. I have to write myself notes along the way as well. Thank you so much for posting these tips!
I'm going to bookmark this one! I start officially working full-time from home this week, and staying disciplined and on task is an ongoing process for me, especially because in the future I'll be juggling multiple work-from-home jobs. A while back someone suggested I try the timer trick to get up from my desk every 20 minutes and move around when I was having hip issues, and I've been expanding that idea to use my small breaks for other things too — grabbing a new cup of coffee, taking a 5-minute walk, or doing things like reading this newsletter! I've found it's a good way to keep my brain focused, and then reward it and prepare for the next 20 minutes of focus. As a fellow Obliger, I also appreciate the tips to get the just-for-me shit done, too. :)
Hi Katie! I've been reading your newsletter for awhile! I think you'd be interested in Groove (grooveapp.io) - it's a cool tool to get sh*t done while working remotely🕺 (disclaimer, they're one of my clients). It incorporates a lot of what you mentioned above, + accountability partners.
More info:
Groove is a rad community of creatives, freelancers, entrepreneurs, remote workers, and other nontraditional path-takers from all over the world. We come together to conquer our to-do lists in 50-minute sessions.
People focus on all sorts of tasks inside...work, passion projects, and personal, life tasks (paying bills, clearing emails, cleaning). You start on video briefly saying hi to 1-3 other Groovers and then hop into a chat to focus for the full 50 minutes. It's a free mobile app. You can sign up for the beta community here: https://grooveapp.io/#join. Would be awesome to meet you inside and get focused together!
Thanks for sharing these, Katie! I'm a part-time grad student supporting a team of 35 people in my full-time job, so I'm always looking for new techniques for time (and stress) management. I'm personally a fan of the Forest app, which lets you set custom-length timers for your focus time. The app plants a virtual seed and grows a tree during the time you specify, and if you pick up your phone/open other apps, it kills the tree - I know it's not real, but even that little bit of tangibility is enough to motivate me to leave my phone alone!
Oh, that does sound super motivating. Thank you for the tip! (And good luck with all the work on your plate. It sounds like a lot!)
One of the most helpful discoveries I’ve made recently is to embrace my computer’s (and phone’s) “Do Not Disturb” feature.
I’m so vulnerable to the constant slacks, emails, alerts, texts – and being a fellow “obliger,” I find it difficult not to respond in that moment. (The small dopamine hits from the alerts also don’t help, it’s like the neurological version of empty calories!)
Enabling DND for an hour here and there with an intention to focus on an important task has done wonders!
Yes yes yes, I love this tip! (Also, hi, Sean!!)
I've been doing the pomodoro technique for years and didn't even know it :)
Yes! That’s how smart you are!!
I love to listen to music while I work, even as I am preparing my mind to write. It helps a lot! I also have to write a to-do list. I have to write myself notes along the way as well. Thank you so much for posting these tips!
You’re welcome! I’ve been writing to these playlists lately: https://on.substack.com/p/writing-hour-music?s=r
The ClearSpace app (https://getclearspace.app/) makes me pause before opening Twitter, helps me stop checking impulsively
Nice! Thanks for the recommendation!
I'm going to bookmark this one! I start officially working full-time from home this week, and staying disciplined and on task is an ongoing process for me, especially because in the future I'll be juggling multiple work-from-home jobs. A while back someone suggested I try the timer trick to get up from my desk every 20 minutes and move around when I was having hip issues, and I've been expanding that idea to use my small breaks for other things too — grabbing a new cup of coffee, taking a 5-minute walk, or doing things like reading this newsletter! I've found it's a good way to keep my brain focused, and then reward it and prepare for the next 20 minutes of focus. As a fellow Obliger, I also appreciate the tips to get the just-for-me shit done, too. :)
I also have multiple work-from-home jobs, and the timer/dividing up my to-do list helps a lot. Good luck, Rebecca! I'm excited for you!
This morning I opened my inbox (largely to avoid a task) and was met with exactly the message and messenger that I needed.
Thank you Katie *hug*
Aw hi Nic! I’m glad it helped and hope that task you were avoiding isn’t too painful!
Hi Katie! I've been reading your newsletter for awhile! I think you'd be interested in Groove (grooveapp.io) - it's a cool tool to get sh*t done while working remotely🕺 (disclaimer, they're one of my clients). It incorporates a lot of what you mentioned above, + accountability partners.
More info:
Groove is a rad community of creatives, freelancers, entrepreneurs, remote workers, and other nontraditional path-takers from all over the world. We come together to conquer our to-do lists in 50-minute sessions.
People focus on all sorts of tasks inside...work, passion projects, and personal, life tasks (paying bills, clearing emails, cleaning). You start on video briefly saying hi to 1-3 other Groovers and then hop into a chat to focus for the full 50 minutes. It's a free mobile app. You can sign up for the beta community here: https://grooveapp.io/#join. Would be awesome to meet you inside and get focused together!
Ooh, I love this idea. Thanks for sharing, Brandy!
Well, if you want to stay more focused, you might want to discover why you're getting distracted. This article might help you to identify these factors: https://kanbantool.com/blog/wheres-my-focus-gone-now