0:55 "Time * Intensity = Quality of work produced" -Cal Newport 1:44 1) Have a single target of focus 2:19 "Unlimited possibilities are not suited for man; if they existed, his life would only dissolve in the boundless. To become strong, a man's life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntary accepted." - I Ching 2:47 2) Keep the session sacred 3:45 3) Proper tools. Make time to maintain the tools. 4:51 4) Practice 5:51 5) Use timers, but... leave some buffer room at the end of the timed session "There's nothing an artists needs more- even more than excellent tools and stamina- than a deadline" -Adriana Trigiani. 6:52 6) Work alone. "Without great solitude, no serious work is possible"- Pablo Picasso 8:09 7) Make time for recovery 8:45 Interest. Give yourself a challenge
What I do with the Pomodoro technique is set a timer for 20 minutes and after it goes off stare at the wall for 1:30 trying to be as still as I can. In the beginning that minute-thirty is so boring that I feel I want to go back to work, but several hours later that mental break gives me is what keeps me going without blowing out. On top of that, I've caught my self literally stareing at a wall for 2 hrs thinking of nothing, a 20-minute timer prevents that from happing. I'm able to be in the library for hours and get a lot of stuff done.
Synopsis :- 1. A single target of focus. 2. Keep the session sacred. 3. Have Proper tools. 4. Practice makes a hu-man perfect. 5. Use timers - break into smaller sessions for initial boost! 6. Work alone - no group study/work. 7. Make time for recovery but only between those smaller sessions discussed in point 5. btw I simply cannot go to coffee shop, sitting along with couples dating and study. The waiter will come and ask me politely to order something. If I say no, he'll kick me out.
1. Decide the project that you work on. 2. Maintain tool 3. Practice focusing 4. Use timers (time limitation) 5. Work alone 6. Take a break (This must be high density fun)
Note: these tips rely on a foundation of taking care of your body & mind. Exercise, eat right, and sleep consistently to give your brain what it needs.
Thomas, man! You're definitely one of my favorite RU-vidrs. I actually started doing the 25 pages a day challenge, and now I'm reading around a book per week. Now I even started a youtube channel focused on book reviews, since I read so much I'm starting to forget all that info, and I needed something to reassert what I learned! Definitely life changing :)
1:44 focus on one single task 2:50 don’t do anything before you do the task 3:47 use the right tools/ prepare yourself before starting 4:55 intense focus need practice 5:53 use timers but leave some buffer 6:53 work alone 8:10 have time for recovery
I have serious problems with focusing and I get easily distracted. Increasing my focus is one of my top priorities for this year. Great tips! Also, I want to get to bed earlier and read 25 pages every night before getting to bed. :)
When you mentioned how you hate cooking with a dull knife, I felt like I had to recommend the tool my family uses to keep our knives sharp. It's called the Sharpener's Edge, made by JCS Products. It sharpens your blade in minutes and is just phenomenal. Your videos are amazing; I learn so much from them! Have a nice day!
As usual solid video and presentation! I want to suggest to make a video on how to learn new subjects alone. There are a lot on study and review techniques (pomodoro) but not on learning anew. Also would be nice to hear one on how to think Again thank you for all the great work!
Thanks Thomas, I've been following your video for the last 6 months and now i just passed the entrance exam to a college that was "unattainable" for me
Wow. You nailed it on the sacred part. I work two jobs and have a deep study regime that I do at Starbucks (I hate studying alone). So I always eat before leaving home, get a coffee, sit down, put ear plugs in and crack open my book and jump straight in. It always works. I do a slotted amount of time for each subject, and use a timer for each. That way I can always get work done, and avoid distractions. Great channel, sir. : )
So YOU'RE the guy who goes to a busy coffee shop to concentrate. Hmmm, I need a nice, quiet place to think, free from distractions. Better head to the amusement park."
So true about the timers... Especially when you are doing "reasoning" work, like math or programming, you may be fully into the resolution of a problem, you have that state of flow, that doesn't have to be broken.
Fantastic tips mate. I agree with the importance of rest and relaxation. I think it is something often missed in the productivity space. I have felt the onset of burnout before so I now make sure to schedule in rest at the end of every day and big one at the end of the week. Where I just switch off completely and watch my favourite TV show or play a video game.Which helps me to regain my focus and energy to go at it again!
My extended summery of the thing: ## Blistering Focus with my intense work ethic. **High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus)** 1. **Selection one task** 1. **Choose task** - [ ] *Name task here* 2. **Execution** 1. **Make it sacred**. This is what you are here for do it with a duty! 2. **Perform with the best of your abilities** the given task for X minutes before considering another. 3. **Note important distractions fast** 4. **Timers:** 1. Use Pomodoro Timer but work longer if feel like it. 2. Alternatively use work with time pressure mode enabled. 1. Set subgoals in choosen task und complete these with mini-dealine bombs which will go of. 3. **Recovery** 1. **Take a conscious break** 1. Congrats yourself when you take a break - [ ] Having a break? 2. Mange breaks. Dont loss **sacredenes** 3. Choose fun reward.
Thomas really sheds light on all the things I also do to distract myself which really is only learned through experience, makes me realize that he suffered from all the stuff I do as well, gives me a better perception of what is possible if I really just asses all these distractions and really buckle down and start focusing and attacking my responsibilities. Another great video man thank you!
The food comment helps me. I'm not running to Starbucks, but I do fall into this pitfall often in the morning. It doesn't necessarily stop me because what I'm doing isn't "work" but reading, which I can do while I eat. The problem is that I have to put off that reading while I prepare that meal, when I know I could wait until after to make the meal and be able to focus so much better on my reading. Thank you for that little nudge in the right direction. I do find the wall posters distracting. Good thing you've made the effort to verbally present well, so I could listen without watching.
Your videos are great bro. Helpful, and too the point. His vids respect our time. Sure its 10min. But its not full of nonsense, and pointless edits etc. Also great subjects. 👍🏽
D C i guess this coment was meant for this video cause when notification flashed then i just clicked within fraction of seconds so maybe i am the first for this video.... and for the other part its been 2 and half year i am regular viewer of his videos 😊
Love the Pomodoro technique. Using the 5 min breaks in between helps to maintain the focus, but self-control is absolutely mandatory. Taking a 30 min break every two hours is also an excellent way to maintain a balance. And time to recover is crucial! If you're tired...rest. You'll be surprised how much more productive you are after proper recovery.
My BEST ideas and writing come from sharing. What I'm trying to say is that some people as myself, we find it easier to work when we speak about it out loud and have feedback from a friend or a classmate, sometimes all I need is to speak to myself and read each paragraph that I write and then correct it or keep going with new ideas. I can work on my own but I'm a better student when I share for sure. And also, if I study with someone I'll focus easily because number 1: I'm competitive and if my mate is focused... And number 2: if I'm with someone I'm less likely to procrastinate because I don't want to annoy or make my friend loose the concentration. Sorry for my English. Nice channel, keep going!
1- determine and focus one task 2- keep the work session sacred 3- proper the right tools 4- keep practice so you can find studying easier 5- use timer for starting, until you get the intense focus 6- study alone (espacially for ask requering creaive mindset) 7 - give yourself time for recovery
thanks for making these. It's easy to say "well yeah that makes sense" when you take a quick glance at it but it's reflection and action that creates change.
I am studying to become an accountant, I hate studying and have no motivation because sometimes I simply don't understand the textbooks. However, your videos are of great help. So thank you, it's getting easier. :)
Dude, I didn't know where to thank you for this so I figured I would on one of the videos that I liked of yours. I love the study playlist that you've put together it is amazing like omg I was able to concentrate on my drawing so freely while I listened to it so yeah thank you for creating that awesome music playlist :) . Keep up the good work.
I can't say how relevant this is to me right now. I am in 3rd year of an undergrad and struggle to "get work done" during my study time and am working on increasing effectiveness. Thank you!
The problem is that i can't take short breakes... every time I want to take a short break I end up being distracted and waste my time! And about the tip of relaxing and playing video games is also a problem for me because then I wouldn't be able to get back to my work and I will constantly think about gaming... Any advice please?? Nice vid btw LUV U!!!
Noyemi Sarkisian Have you thought about how your environment might distract you for your short breaks? Like do you use your computer, phone, TV, etc. to take a break? Maybe that might be the cause. Maybe try to find a place where you can minimize any distractions and have a timer to remind yourself when you need to start working again.
Great point on the Practice tip! Our minds are like a muscle - the more we use them, the stronger they become. Practice focus to be able to focus more. Boom!
I LOVE learning but right as i sit down for a couple of minutes I always find myself clicking on youtube videos and social media. Thanks to you though I managed to create myself a habit of sitting and working for long periods of time without distracting myself, and when I finished everything I need to do, i reward myself. Thanks A Lot!
Well THANK YOU Thomas Frank. The past 2 months, I've been having trouble focusing and I finally realized the problem, it's taking the break for lunch before my reading that hinders my reading abilities. Sooo All I need to do is hold off on Lunch until AFTER reading. I may need to move my shower in the morning to night again so I have that extra time in the morning.
Hey Thomas, something I would be really interested in, is how you come back to work when you got distracted at some point in time. I noticed, once distracted, it is like a waterfall that drags you down deeper and deeper and makes it really really hard to come back to work, and makes you think, e.g. 5 more minutes Minecraft won't hurt which then amounts to an hour. Do you have any strategies how to come back once distracted?
I'm paying off debt, so definitely no Starbucks for now. One thing that I know that works (for me), is to keep my surroundings and desk clean. I tend to focus more after I deep clean the house or at least my room. Great video, Thomas.
Quality output is "Time" (number of hours you are doing something) times (Multiply) "Intensity of focus". That is: The more time you spend with high degree of focus on your work (without much distraction), the more you will end up getting done.
I have a math exam in 8 days and I was struggling trying to focus on it and this helps me a lot, I noted things that you said that I think it is important and put them behind my screen to look at them easily thank you very much!
Just last night I had about 3 hours between my last class and a meeting at 9pm. I had plans to do homework but I started out planning and ended up designing t-shirts for my organization, which totally could've waited until this weekend. I will try to implement your ideas!
Greetings from Peru!!! The best part of being at home is finding you, thanks for your suggestions. It encourage me to do my best and I will share your essential formula's ingredients.
