Discussion Forum > Min-Max: How I handle high resistance as well as "time waster" tasks
I quite like these suggestions. In theory. We shall see how practice goes.
For hard tasks MIN 2 minutes, I think I can pull off without a special devise. I can simply note the time and not allow myself to quit if that time hasn’t changed by more than 2 minutes.
For MAX, that can be very useful as a way to curtail in-advance these kinds of activities.
For hard tasks MIN 2 minutes, I think I can pull off without a special devise. I can simply note the time and not allow myself to quit if that time hasn’t changed by more than 2 minutes.
For MAX, that can be very useful as a way to curtail in-advance these kinds of activities.
April 25, 2022 at 0:10 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
@Alan Baljeu,
Thanks for the reply! For the Min, I forgot to mention that it is best in my experience to not look at the clock to gauge the time. It is kind of like a "fire and forget" thing: the easier it is to check how much time is left, the more often I'd be looking at the time. The idea is to give yourself enough confidence to start, then forget that you've set up a time limit in the first place so you'd focus more on the task.
Thanks for the reply! For the Min, I forgot to mention that it is best in my experience to not look at the clock to gauge the time. It is kind of like a "fire and forget" thing: the easier it is to check how much time is left, the more often I'd be looking at the time. The idea is to give yourself enough confidence to start, then forget that you've set up a time limit in the first place so you'd focus more on the task.
April 25, 2022 at 7:44 |
Ed Z
Ed Z
EdZ:
A similar rule was mentioned by someone recently, which was the "30-Second Rule". I can't remember who advocates it. You work on task for at least thirty seconds. I tried it at the time and it seemed to work quite well.
With some tasks two minutes would feel like a lifetime!
A similar rule was mentioned by someone recently, which was the "30-Second Rule". I can't remember who advocates it. You work on task for at least thirty seconds. I tried it at the time and it seemed to work quite well.
With some tasks two minutes would feel like a lifetime!
April 25, 2022 at 11:17 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I have found the use of incremental times, starting with 1 minute, then 2 minute, then 3, etc. to work well with tasks I am highly resisting. I don't do anything in between, but just sit and do nothing, and look around and take a breath until I feel like starting again. Recently I was able to write and complete two job applications this way.
A maximum time would be useful on time waster tasks, but 25 minutes seems too long. My main time waster is surfing the internet. Perhaps using this as a reward or a break and setting it to 5 minutes would be good.
A maximum time would be useful on time waster tasks, but 25 minutes seems too long. My main time waster is surfing the internet. Perhaps using this as a reward or a break and setting it to 5 minutes would be good.
April 29, 2022 at 20:28 |
Mark H.
Mark H.
I've found that with highly addicting distractions, setting a timer doesn't work. I'll just ignore the timer.
April 29, 2022 at 23:51 |
Aaron Hsu
Aaron Hsu
For the fun stuff, I think the only thing that sometimes works is a precommitment: I will do this for no longer than 25 minutes, after which I will do ______________. And burn that notion into my psyche. And then set the timer. A timer on its own is quite inadequate.
May 1, 2022 at 20:48 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
For me the only thing that marginally works is saying "no" to that thing until all the other things that I consider more important than that thing are done first. That's not perfect, by a long shot, but it at least helps.
May 2, 2022 at 3:09 |
Aaron Hsu
Aaron Hsu
Aaron:
Maybe a "school timetable" approach would work. You draw up a work/break timetable for the day, and the two rules are that you *can't* do anything except work during the work periods, and you *can* do anything except work during the break periods.
Maybe a "school timetable" approach would work. You draw up a work/break timetable for the day, and the two rules are that you *can't* do anything except work during the work periods, and you *can* do anything except work during the break periods.
May 2, 2022 at 12:28 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Mark:
I've tried such things, but I've never, ever been able to make much progress with it. Even when I was literally imposed a schedule external to me, I often had issues staying within the confines of such a schedule. This has been consistent throughout my entire life, and it seems like one of my weaknesses that remains unshakable. I just don't seem to be able to follow time-based schedules of any sort.
I even worked at one business that had to have a talk with me because even though I was getting all my work done and was quite productive, my schedule kept getting out of synch with everyone else, and it was causing issues with others in the company. And that's when we all literally lived in the same house and worked from the same office space!
I wasn't very good at this even when I was at school and we were following a schedule there, either. Funny story, but I lived near one school I attended, and even my animals didn't follow the schedule. I had one of my pets actually come to get me at the school and I had to leave the school just to take him back home (walked him back over there), because he was getting into things at the school looking for me.
The best I can diagnose this is that I just don't "feel" time very well. It's very hard for me to let go of something, and even harder for me to be aware of or care about time progressing or not. I'm also pretty resilient to potential bad consequences in a lot of cases, so I'm often not motivated by, for example, fear of losing my job, because I'm confident that this won't be a major impediment to whatever I want to accomplish.
I've tried such things, but I've never, ever been able to make much progress with it. Even when I was literally imposed a schedule external to me, I often had issues staying within the confines of such a schedule. This has been consistent throughout my entire life, and it seems like one of my weaknesses that remains unshakable. I just don't seem to be able to follow time-based schedules of any sort.
I even worked at one business that had to have a talk with me because even though I was getting all my work done and was quite productive, my schedule kept getting out of synch with everyone else, and it was causing issues with others in the company. And that's when we all literally lived in the same house and worked from the same office space!
I wasn't very good at this even when I was at school and we were following a schedule there, either. Funny story, but I lived near one school I attended, and even my animals didn't follow the schedule. I had one of my pets actually come to get me at the school and I had to leave the school just to take him back home (walked him back over there), because he was getting into things at the school looking for me.
The best I can diagnose this is that I just don't "feel" time very well. It's very hard for me to let go of something, and even harder for me to be aware of or care about time progressing or not. I'm also pretty resilient to potential bad consequences in a lot of cases, so I'm often not motivated by, for example, fear of losing my job, because I'm confident that this won't be a major impediment to whatever I want to accomplish.
May 3, 2022 at 10:09 |
Aaron Hsu
Aaron Hsu
"The best I can diagnose this is that I just don't "feel" time very well. It's very hard for me to let go of something, and even harder for me to be aware of or care about time progressing or not."
This is a typical thing for ADHD. I've never been diagnosed but I feel such 'symptoms' myself. It's what makes sticking to a system hard.
For the problem of working a minimum/maximum time but not being tied to a visible clock, I found a solution. An alarm could work to signal a stopping point, but I found listening to an amount of music that runs out when you've reached the mark is better. It needs to be working music to distinguish that you are in work mode, and it just keeps me going.
This is a typical thing for ADHD. I've never been diagnosed but I feel such 'symptoms' myself. It's what makes sticking to a system hard.
For the problem of working a minimum/maximum time but not being tied to a visible clock, I found a solution. An alarm could work to signal a stopping point, but I found listening to an amount of music that runs out when you've reached the mark is better. It needs to be working music to distinguish that you are in work mode, and it just keeps me going.
May 12, 2022 at 13:32 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
For transparency, I got this idea from a reddit post,
http://www.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/comments/ts6jbl/my_worksessions_always_derailed_into/
This works with any task system, you will need a timer, preferably on a smartphone where you can set two easily accessible timers.
A. High Resistance Tasks
1. If you want to do a high resistance task, first acknowledge that it is a task that is difficult for you to do but you want or need to do it now. Then write "Min" beside the task.
2. Set up a timer with no alarm for 2 minutes. Save this timer for other similar tasks later on.
3. Now run the 2 minute timer, and then do the task until either the timer runs out or you decide to stop AFTER the timer has ran out (I.e. a MINIMUM of 2 minutes)
4. When rewriting the task, always include the "Min" tag and always start the 2 minute timer when doing it until you feel it is not a high resistance task anymore, upon which you can remove the "Min" tag.
Why it works (at least for me)
I read in David Allen's "Getting Things Done" that one should do all tasks that take less than two minutes, so I used this as the minimum time I should be doing a hard task. Maybe because of this, I find it less intimidating to start such tasks if I give myself permission to do them at least two minutes before I quit, especially since the"little and often" philosophy of task management is hard baked in Mark Forster's systems. Almost all of the time I find myself doing such tasks for far longer, especially because there is no alarm to tell me two minutes had passed. A
B. "Time Waster" Tasks
1. If you want to do a very pleasurable task or a task that is pretty important but you take an inordinate amount of time doing, then first acknowledge that you take way too much time in doing this task. Then write "Max" beside it.
2. Set up a timer set for 25 minutes with a loud, obnoxious alarm. Save this timer for future similar tasks.
3. Now run the 25 minute timer, and then do the task until either the task is done or the alarm sounds, which ever is first (I.e. a MAXIMUM of 25 minutes).
4. When rewriting the task, always include the "Max" tag and always start the 25 minute timer when doing it until you feel you do not take too much time doing it, upon which you can remove the "Max" tag (Note: LOL I've never had removed a "Max" tag yet).
Why it works (at least for me)
Twenty five minutes is the typical unit of a Pomodoro and I feel it is the reasonable maximum of time I should be doing before my mental resources or enjoyment start to diminish. And the personal experience of enjoying things more or doing things more excellently (or both) when I take breaks definitely encourages me to be faithful in following this.