This weekend I experimented with my ideal concentration time for academic writing. I tried the Pomodoro technique but felt that it was too short at 25 minutes. Next up, I tried 90 minutes worth of concentration, after reading the stupendous book Deep Work by Cal Newport (read my notes on it here). But my brain was frazzled after concentrating for that long, although I did find myself getting into a deep flow state, as described by Martin Seligman.
Finally, after watching and getting advice from my favourite YouTuber, Huberman, I tried concentrating for 45 minutes, then taking a 5-10 minute break, as he suggests. It is important that in that 5-10 break, you don’t focus on any one thing e.g. phone, reading, etc, but rather you complete a menial or automated task (shallow task?), like walking around, doing the dishes, or a little meditation, to give your brain the break it needs. After some trial and error, I settled on 40 minutes, with a 10-minute break. Then after two 40-minute sessions, I would take a 20-minute break, I also have real white noise, generated by a fan, to top things off. Done!
This (working) week I am reflecting on Aurelius’ notes on Diognetus, i.e.
- not to waste time on nonsense
- not to be taken in by people
- not to be obsessed with trends
- to accept unwelcome truths
- live a simple life.
Let’s see how that goes…