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Dr Jane Genovese makes the latest research on learning, productivity and healthy living accessible to students, parents and teachers.

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The presentations Jane delivers are based on a combination of the best research and personal experience (particularly her years studying law and psychology and completing a PhD).

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This healthier approach will help students to learn more effectively and leave them feeling more confident, capable, and in control.

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Latest Articles

My workspace

I’m an organised person. But I wasn’t born this way.

I was the kid who was always late for school. I’d forget things. I’d lose my stuff. I’d regularly have to check the grimy lost property bin.

When I was younger, I admired people who were organised. Seeing someone with colour-coded files, a neatly arranged bag, and a tidy bedroom was inspiring.

I figured I was just wired differently. Being messy was just how I was—a simple fact of life. My boyfriend (now my husband) even affectionately nicknamed me Mess Pot.

It never dawned on me that perhaps these ‘organised’ people I was so in awe of had been exposed to other organised people and practices from a young age.

It wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that the penny finally dropped.

Here’s what I realised . . .

No one pops out of the womb knowing how to be organised.

Being organised is a collection of small, learnable skills.

If you know how to learn, you can learn how to become organised. It’s not rocket science.

So, that’s exactly what I did.

Over the past 15 years, I’ve taught myself to be organised.

I’ve read many books on the topic, from Marie Kondo’s bestseller The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up to David Allen’s Getting Things Done.

Organisation books

I’ve experimented with numerous organisational methods, systems and strategies that the authors promised would transform my life from chaos to freedom, control, and ease.

In this article, I share what I’ve learnt from all these books, organisational gurus, and personal experiments I’ve conducted to become organised. I hope this inspires you to develop your own systems and strategies that work for you.

What I’ve learnt from my 15-year quest to become organised

You can follow other people’s systems and methods, but I’ve discovered that it’s best to develop your own organisational system. The organisational system you adopt must align with your values and goals. If it doesn’t, abandon it or tweak it until it feels right for you.

For instance, I love books, and I own many. This is why I yelped out in pain when I read Marie Kondo’s advice on how to deal with books.

In her book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Kondo advises readers to rip out relevant pages from reference books and discard the rest of the book. There was simply no way I would do that to my precious books!

Central to her KonMari method is holding an object in both hands and feeling the emotion that arises.

If the object sparks joy? You keep it.

If there is no joy? You get rid of it.

I can see how this strategy has enormous appeal. It simplifies the decluttering process. You don’t have to think too hard. But there are dangers in the spark joy approach.

You can end up on a consumer treadmill of discarding items that no longer spark joy and constantly acquiring new ones that do. However, you can bet that the joy will soon dissipate from those new items as you habituate to them.

In addition, this ‘Spark Joy’ strategy also overlooks the functional role of many items in our lives.

My toilet plunger doesn’t exactly spark joy, but it’s incredibly useful when I need it!

The point is you need to trust yourself. Don’t give all your power away to a stylish organisational guru with a cult following and a Netflix series!

Trial and error is the key to getting your organisational groove on. And patience.

Your life won’t be transformed in a day or a week. You have to trust that the solutions will come, but it will take time.

This may sound a bit woo-woo and new age. So, let me frame it another way . . .

On your journey to become organised, pretend to be a scientist. Run some personal experiments.

Tiny experiments

In the book Tiny Experiments, Anne-Laure Le Cunff encourages us to come up with a research question and then turn it into a hypothesis. She states:

“Don’t overthink it. Formulating a hypothesis is an intuitive process based on your past experiences and present inclinations. It should simply be an idea you want to put to the test- an inkling of an answer to your research question.

If you observed that you dread giving presentations, maybe improv classes could help build your confidence. If you feel anxious in the morning, maybe meditation could help regulate your emotions. If you enjoy graphic design, maybe freelancing could help strengthen your portfolio.”

Don’t be put off by this scientific language (e.g., ‘Hypothesis’ and ‘research question’). Running a tiny experiment and formulating a hypothesis is easy.

Here’s an example from my own life . . .

I’ve noticed that when clutter piles up on my desk, I am more easily distracted and feel overwhelmed. So, I came up with the following research question:

“How can I decrease feelings of overwhelm and increase my ability to focus when I’m at my desk?”

My hypothesis to this question was:

“Decluttering my desk by removing all non-essential items will decrease feelings of overwhelm and increase my ability to focus on the task at hand.”

Then, I put this idea to the test and observed what happened.

Some experiments you run will work. Others will flop, but that’s okay. The point is you won’t know unless you run some tiny experiments.

As Anne-Laure Le Cunff states:

“Once you have a hypothesis, you can design an experiment and turn your life into a giant laboratory for self-discovery.”

My personal discoveries

Through running tiny experiments, I’ve come to realise that being organised isn’t about having a beautifully colour-coordinated filing system or a nicely decorated home.

It’s also not about following 10 simple steps and waking up one day to find that you’ve magically become an organised person.

In our materialistic culture, we are sold a particular idea and image of what it means to be organised. But I’m not buying it. And you shouldn’t either. Why? Because it’s a lie designed to make us feel bad about ourselves, so we buy more stuff!

In stark contrast to the slick images you see online and in glossy magazines, life is messy. It’s a constant struggle.

Purchasing pretty storage containers and having a tidy, organised home won’t make your life less messy and uncertain.

But I can say this: being organised will make it easier to navigate the mess and chaos of life. It will help you focus your time, energy, and attention on what matters most to you.

So, I’m suggesting that you block the influencers and ads from your feed and burn the home lifestyle magazines. You’re going to create your own personal philosophy for organised living.

Here’s what being organised means to me . . .

Being organised is about helping my day go a little more smoothly.

It’s about removing friction and resistance between me and the tasks I need to do. When I’m organised I can easily find what I need, which allows me to dive into my projects: filming that video, cooking that new recipe for dinner, and mind mapping that book I’ve just read.

Being organised is a way to enjoy the present moment more. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by mess and clutter, I feel calm and grounded. It’s easier to focus on the task at hand.

Is it worth taking the time to become more organised and experiment with your own systems and strategies?

Yes. 100%.

Being organised has decreased my stress levels and boosted my confidence. It has also saved me a significant amount of time and energy.

Creating guiding principles for organised living

I’ve found that developing a few guiding principles helps ground you in your quest to become organised.

Below, I share my guiding principles and how I’ve integrated each one into my life.

I’m not here to tell you to copy what I do (it’s best to develop your own philosophy, guiding principles, systems, and strategies). However, if you’re unsure where to start, feel free to experiment with the systems and strategies listed below.

Principle #1: Embrace mise en place

Give every item a home. Everything should have a special place in your space.

Professional chefs do this. Before they start cooking a dish, they prepare the ingredients and take out the kitchen utensils they need. There’s a term for this practice. It’s called the mise en place.

Mise en place is a French term that literally translates to ‘putting in place’, but it means a place for everything and everything in its place.

When it comes time for a chef to start cooking a dish, they know where the ingredients and kitchen utensils are. This allows the chef to work efficiently and focus on the task at hand: cooking the dish.

In the book Work Clean, Dan Charnas explains how this concept can be applied outside the kitchen to our everyday lives.

Charnas encourages us to arrange our spaces to remove resistance. He states:

“The less friction we have in our work, the easier it is to do, the more we can do, and the quicker we can do it; and thus the more physical and mental energies we can preserve for other things.”

Mise en place changed my life for the better. I used to spend a lot of physical and mental energy trying to find my keys, wallet, etc., but not anymore.

I now have a designated spot for my keys, hat, wallet, and bag. After using these items, I return them to their special place.

With the mise en place, I no longer waste time searching for items. I can quickly and easily find what I need. You can read more about how I apply mise en place to my life here.

Principle #2: Make your stuff visible

If something is important, I can’t have it stuffed away in a cupboard, drawer, or file. If it’s hidden away, it doesn’t exist.

This is why you’ll see vertical wall hangers in most rooms of my house. These hangers contain key items I frequently use in the space.

By having one item per pouch, I can easily find what I need when I need it.

Principle #3: Fight piles of stuff with the rule of 3

I get easily overwhelmed by piles of stuff, so I have to be vigilant and stay on top of the mess.

I have a simple trick for keeping my space relatively tidy. I tell myself:

“All I need to do is put away three things. That’s it!”

The sink is overflowing with dishes? I tell myself, “Just do three dishes!”

Laundry is scattered all over the bed? “Just put away three pieces of clothing!”

The kitchen bench is covered in random stuff? “Put away three spices!”

Putting away three items feels easy. And when something feels easy, I’m more likely to get started.

When everything has its special place (see Principle #1: Embrace mise en place), it’s easy to implement this principle.

Principle #4: Have capture tools

There’s nothing more frustrating than having a brilliant idea and having no way to capture it. You need to be able to catch thoughts as they occur.

This is why I have whiteboards, markers, pads of paper, and pens placed in key locations.

These random ideas that I capture get thrown into my in-tray to process later on.

Principle #5: Make your space a distraction-free zone

Distractions keep you from doing what you need to do. Like a pile of clutter on your desk or boxes obstructing your entryway, distractions are a barrier to your goals and intentions.

If you want to be more organised, you need to deal with anything that could distract you before sitting down to do your work.

Like most people, the biggest distraction I face is my phone.

If I’m constantly checking my phone, I feel scattered, frenzied, and overwhelmed. Everything speeds up. I start to feel like I’m spinning out of control.

I know I have to avoid this mental state at all costs if I want to have any chance of having a productive, enjoyable day.

This is why I have a morning ritual of placing my phone in pocket 1 of my vertical wall hanger in my dining room (well away from my workspace) before I start my workday. Out of sight is out of mind.

Principle #6:  Make rubbish plans

I used to feel intimidated by the idea of planning, so I rarely planned my week or day.

But over the past few years, I’ve become a planning machine. Why? Because plans are powerful. Even rubbish plans work wonders!

As Ned Brockman says, plans “help make you less anxious about the howling chaos of modern life.”

Here’s how I create my ‘rubbish’ plans for the week and day:

At the end of every week (on a Sunday), I create a plan for the week ahead.

I do this by reflecting on the week I’ve just had (What did I do this week? Can I claim any wins? Are there any unfinished tasks or people I need to get back to?) and looking at the week ahead (What do I need to do this week?).

I write out all the major to-dos for the next seven days on a list.

This list usually overwhelms me (there’s always a lot to do!). To combat this feeling of overwhelm, I transfer a few tasks from the list to an index card. This is my daily card (the to-do list for the day).

As I complete each task, I mark it off my daily card. As I see more items being marked off, it builds positive momentum and a sense of progress and satisfaction.

Principle #7:  Orient yourself in time with planners

I use a paper-based planner and a massive year-in-a-glance calendar to help me keep track of my commitments.

When I can see how many days I have before an important presentation or my next holiday, I feel calmer and more in control.

Using planners also frees up precious mental space for learning as you’re not trying to hold so much information in your working memory.

Principle #8: If it’s not useful or beautiful, move it on

I’m far from being a minimalist. I love my stuff. But having too much can be overwhelming. More stuff means more things to manage, making it harder to stay organised.

As someone who loves to op-shop, I frequently have to remind myself of the following quote by William Morriss:

“Have nothing in your house which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

Every few months, I’ll collect some items to donate to my local op-shop. Reducing my possessions makes cleaning and organising a lot easier and quicker.

Principle #9: Remind yourself of your goals and what matters most to you

It’s important to remember why you are striving to be organised in the first place. It’s not to impress other people. You are doing this for you.

Being organised helps you pursue your goals and live in accordance with your values. You have to keep your goals front and centre of your mind; otherwise, the goal of being organised can dominate your life. Organising can become a form of procrastination.

This is why I keep coming back to my values and goals (which I have captured on a mind map). This reminds me that being organised helps me to live a good life. But it’s not the point of my life. There are more important things I want to do with my time, energy and attention.

That said, it’s hard to focus on and work towards my goals if I’m completely disorganised. I lose sight of them! You need to find a healthy balance.

To sum up

If you want to be more organised, I encourage you to experiment with developing systems and strategies that work for you. Come up with an organisational philosophy and set of guiding principles that align with your values.

Why not treat your life as a laboratory and run some tiny experiments to become organised?

Through trial and error, you’ll discover what works and what doesn’t.

Remember, this isn’t about having a perfectly decorated home or trying to impress others. The point of being organised is to allow you to do the things you want to do without as much friction. It’s about living a good life.

Make study easier

It’s the start of a new school year.

This usually comes with shiny new pens, fresh notebooks and renewed hope and optimism. But I recently heard someone say:

“I can’t believe it’s already the end of January . . . so much has happened. I feel tired.”

Can you relate?

A lot has been happening in the world. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the news, let alone the tsunami of information we’re bombarded with online.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and tired (like many people are), let’s try to make life a little easier for ourselves. In this article, I share a strategy you can use to make difficult things feel easier to do. I also share how you can apply the strategy to studying challenging subjects.

Don’t waste your precious energy worrying

I remember having a brief conversation with a year 11 student at the start of the pandemic. It went something like this . . .

Me: How are you feeling given the situation (i.e., COVID-19)?

Year 11 Student: Some of us are stressed but not because of COVID. It’s because of what our teachers have just said to us.

Me: What have your teachers been saying to you?

Year 11 Student: They keep saying this year is going to be really hard. The subjects are going to be much, much harder.

Driving home from the talk, I couldn’t stop thinking about what this student had said as well as the worried look in her eyes.

This conversation reminded me of an awkward experience I once had in a school.

Here’s what happened . . .

I was booked to deliver a presentation to 150 year 10 students. My talk was scheduled for the last period of the school day.

In case you’re not aware, the last period of the school day is not an ideal time slot for a guest speaker. It’s usually a tough gig, as students are tired and they just want to go home.

Students don’t hide how they feel at the end of the school day.

When I arrived at the venue to set up my gear, I spotted two teachers. I approached them and introduced myself to them as the guest presenter. One of them said in an alarmed, panicky tone:

“Oh! You’re the guest speaker? I need to warn you that these students are a horrible group. They do not warm to guest speakers!”

She continued. . .

“Does your talk have a structure to it? Do you know what you’re talking about? These year 10s are a really hard group to work with!”

I felt my stress levels begin to rise, and by accident, I knocked my glass of water off the stage, and it broke. Glass shattered everywhere. Instead of helping me pick up the glass, the teacher said:

“Look! It’s a sign of things to come!”

At this point, the young IT guy arrived to help connect my laptop to the AV system. He overheard this teacher talking about what a bunch of ratbags these students were. His expression was a combination of shock and horror. He said to her:

“Why are you saying this to our guest presenter? I don’t think it’s helpful.”

The teacher reacted defensively. She blurted out, “She needs to know! It’s important we tell her!” and then she left in a hurry.

I took some deep breaths and continued setting up my stuff.

What happened next may surprise you . . .

The students arrived.
I delivered the talk.
The talk went really well. Phew!

It turns out these students weren’t horrible at all. They were a normal group of students who happened to be a bit tired and over it (it didn’t help that it was a boiling hot day).

That day, I learnt an important lesson: Worrying about how difficult something might be doesn’t help. It just uses up your precious brainpower and energy, which you could have spent doing something else (i.e., something more productive).

Whenever I fixate on how hard something will be, I’m filled with fear. Imposter syndrome and self doubt kick in (“Will I be able to do this? What if I fail and it turns out to be a total flop?”). This usually leads to a bad case of avoidance and procrastination.

Imposter syndrome

In the book Make It Stick, Peter Brown explains:

A fear of failure can poison learning by creating aversions to the kinds of experimentation and risk taking that characterize striving, or by diminishing performance under pressure, as in a test setting.”

If you feel worried that you’re not going to be able to perform well in a subject, this is going to use up a big part of your working memory capacity. Instead of thinking about the content, you’ll be thinking, “Am I going to be able to do this? What if I can’t? Should I drop the subject?”.

In short, you’ll have dramatically less brainpower available for learning.

What makes a difference?

There’s a simple question I ask myself when something feels hard. And it’s this . . .

How can I make this behaviour easier to do?

Professor BJ Fogg calls this the Breakthrough Question. According to Fogg, there are three ways you can make any behaviour easier to do:

  1. You can increase your skills
  2. You can invest in tools and resources
  3. You can make the behaviour tiny

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg

In his book Tiny Habits, Fogg explains:

“Regardless of what your aspiration is, increasing your skills, getting tools and resources, and making the behaviour tiny are what makes things easier to do. . .

Sometimes all you’ll need is the right tool to make a new habit easier to do, like using skinny floss [for flossing teeth], and other times all you have to do is scale the behaviour back to its tiniest version, such as flossing just one tooth. Think of making something easy to do as a pond with three different ways to enter the water. Whether you jump off the dock, wade in at the beach, or drop in from a rope swing, you’ll soon be swimming in the same water.”

In other words, you have options!

There are many things you can do to make studying those ‘hard’ subjects a little easier.

With that in mind, here is a short list of behaviours and ideas that will help you get a better handle on your challenging subjects:

1. Put your phone away from your body in another room

If you can focus better, you can learn and retain more information. If you constantly check your phone, put it on silent and away from your body before you sit down to study. My phone lives in pocket number 1 of a vertical wall hangar in my dining room (well away from my workspace).

2. Upgrade your study skills

Study strategies such as active recall (e.g., flashcards) and dual coding (e.g., mind mapping) are more effective than rereading and highlighting your notes. Like any new skill, they take a little time to get used to, but they’ll save you a lot of time in the long run.

3. Try a different textbook

Some textbooks explain ideas better than others. The textbook on your school booklist is not the only one or necessarily the best one out there. You don’t need to feel wedded to it. Check out other study guides and resources.

4. Build good sleep habits

A good night’s sleep allows you to focus better in class, retain more information and feel better. Make sleep your top priority. Here are some behaviours I engage in to get more and better sleep:

In the evening, I put my phone away in another room to charge (and I don’t touch it until the next day)
I don’t look at any screens at least one hour before bed
I go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time everyday

5. Keep chaos at bay

Create a system to organise your notes, past exam papers and handout sheets. Over time, you may need to tweak and refine your system, but that’s okay. I’ve been tweaking and refining my system for years.

For example, I used to store all my mind maps in an A3 flip file (in no particular order). But when things started to get out of control, I switched to cataloguing them alphabetically.My mind map organisation system

6. Ask questions

If you’re confused, don’t suffer in silence. Ask your teacher for help. That’s their job. If you feel shy asking a question in front of the class, approach your teacher after class.

7. Take notes in class

Make life easier for your future self by jotting down key ideas in class. If something is confusing, make a note (you can focus on that in a study session at home). Your memory has limits, and if you don’t write it down, chances are you won’t be able to remember it.

8. Make your study sessions tiny

Make the task tiny

If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of doing several hours of study each day, start with just five minutes. Five minutes of study is infinitely better than doing nothing!

Once you’ve developed the habit of sitting down and studying for 5 minutes, you can ramp it up. But start small.

9. Celebrate the little wins

When you manage to sit down and do a little study, congratulate yourself. Say to yourself, “Good job!” This positive reinforcement makes us feel good, which helps us establish a study habit.

To sum up

When your teachers say, “This subject is going to be really hard”, I think they’re trying to communicate to you, “You need to sit down and study. You can no longer wing it.” They may be afraid that you’re not taking things seriously.

Instead of worrying, be in action. Pick up some flashcards and start testing yourself. Tidy your desk. File away your notes from today. You’ll feel better and do better if you focus on doing the things that make studying that subject a little bit easier.

The practice of working like a sprinter

How often is your work interrupted by notifications or distracting thoughts that you find hard to ignore?

In our modern world, overwhelm and distraction threaten to constantly derail us.

As artist Austin Kleon states in his book Keep Going:

“Your attention is one of the most valuable things you possess, which is why everyone wants to steal it from you. First you must protect it, and then you must point it in the right direction.”

In this article, I share a powerful practice that can help you protect your attention and point it in the right direction: working like a sprinter.

The focused energy of an athlete

As a teenager, I remember watching Australian Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman run in the 400-metre race at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

In that incredible race, Cathy did one thing and one thing only: she ran as fast as she could in a focused, intense burst.

She was 27 years old and had been training for this event for 17 years. Having won silver at the previous Olympics, the pressure was on. The entire nation was watching Cathy.

Cathy Freeman wins gold

To this day, I still get goosebumps when I watch the footage of this race (you can watch it here).

Cathy was in the zone. She was completely focused on the task at hand. She knew what she needed to do: run.

Shortly after crossing the finish line, Cathy sat down to catch her breath and process what she had just accomplished (she had won gold). The crowd went wild and was completely absorbed in the moment, too.

Back in the year 2000, during the Sydney Olympics, smartphones and social media didn’t exist. Not everyone had access to the internet (my family did, but it was slow, expensive, and could only be used at home on a computer). In this environment, it was much easier to focus.

It’s fair to say that the early 2000s were simpler times.

Some scholars (e.g., Dr Jonathan Haidt, and Dr Anna Lembke) argue that smartphones and social media have caused several harms to society, including a reduced capacity to pay attention and an inability to tolerate discomfort.

Despite the noise and chaos of the modern world, it’s possible to train yourself to focus better.

How do we cultivate better focus?

One way is to tackle our work like sprinters.

The Practice: Working like a Sprinter

The practice of working like a sprinter is refreshingly simple: You work in a short, focused burst (25-45 minutes), then take a break to rest and recover (5-15 minutes). After that, you repeat the process a few times before taking a much longer break (30 minutes).

 

Sprint-rest-sprint-repeat

I usually work this way for about 3 – 4 hours a day.

But I’m not fixed and rigid about this practice. This technique is adaptable. The key is to listen to your body and tune into what it needs. Make this practice work for you.

If you develop the habit of working in this focused way, you’ll be amazed by how much you can get done. More importantly, instead of feeling mentally fried at the end of the day, you’ll feel energised. You’ll also experience a delightful sense of calm and peace.

In short, this is a practice well worth cultivating.

 

How to work like a sprinter

In a nutshell, working like a sprinter involves three distinct phases:

  • Warm-up phase: You prepare yourself to do the work
  • Sprint phase: You do the work in a short, focused burst
  • Rest and recovery phase: You take a break to re-energise

 

It’s simple, but it’s a practice that takes practise.

Below, I delve into each phase in more detail and share some things that help me work in focused sprints.

 

The Warm-Up Phase (5 minutes – 120 minutes)

Warm up phase

I do my best work sprints in the morning between 9am and 12noon. But these focused sprints don’t just magically happen. It’s not like I roll out of bed and dive straight into a work sprint. First, I need to warm up.

The warm-up phase allows me to get in the right headspace and set up my environment to be focus-friendly. It has a dramatic impact on my brain’s performance, affecting my ability to focus, creativity, productivity, and mood.

Just to be clear, the stars don’t have to align, and the conditions don’t need to be perfect to kick off a work sprint. I’ve simply noticed that I can work better after engaging in a few behaviours and morning practices.

Here’s what I’ve found makes a difference . . .

 

1. Figure out the things that hijack your attention

What distracts you when you’re trying to work? What things frequently derail you?

Take note of the things that hijack your attention and throw you off track.

In one of my favourite books on getting organised, Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD, Susan Pinsky writes:

“The more you explore the distractions that keep you from working, as well as the tools that help you to focus, the more organized and productive you will become.”

Once you know what distracts you, you can figure out ways to deal with those distractions, which brings me to the next point . . .

 

2. Implement distraction blockers

For each distraction, think of ways to make it harder to engage with it. What barriers or strategies could you put in place? Are there any tools that could help you focus better?

For example:

  • Your phone keeps buzzing? Put it away from your body in another room (I put my phone in pocket 1 of a vertical wall hanger in the dining room, well away from my workspace).
  • Keep having distracting, random thoughts? Write them in a notebook and come back to them later.
  • Feel tempted to use chat groups or social media? Use an app like Cold Turkey, Freedom, or one sec to block yourself.

 

Dealing with distractions from the outset (before you sit down to do your work sprints) makes it easier to stay focused and on track.

 

3. Meditate (even just for 3 minutes)

Many of us have become used to constant stimulation; without it, we feel anxious. This is why we reach for our phones and scroll through our feeds as soon as we experience a slight pang of boredom.

If you can relate to this, you will benefit from engaging in a daily meditation practice.

If you’re new to meditation, I recommend starting with the following tiny habit of doing a micro-meditation:

After I put on my shoes, I will pause and breathe in and out three times.

Not sure how to meditate? Close your eyes and focus on your breath, going in and out. If a random thought enters your mind (and it will), notice it and let it go. Then, return your focus to your breath.

Alternatively, you could listen to a guided meditation using an app such Insight Timer.

 

4. Move your body (even just for 5 minutes)

Clinical psychiatrist Dr John Ratey describes exercise as “like a little bit of Ritalin and a little bit of Prozac”. It’s powerful stuff.

Research shows that physical movement can help us focus better and learn faster. In terms of counteracting stress and boosting our mood, movement is like getting a biochemical massage.

This is one reason getting on my treadmill and doing interval training has become a non-negotiable part of my day. In the words of Tara Schuster:

“[Working out] is my preventative measure against the anxiety that lurks in my mind. I must throw myself out of bed in the morning and make it to the gym because I will always, always feel better for it.”

By warming up my body through physical movement, I’m able to warm up my brain by bathing it in feel good chemicals.

Deliberately exposing myself to the discomfort of running also helps me sit with the unpleasant feelings that arise when faced with difficult work. As Alex Soojung-Kim Pang states in his book Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less:

“Exposing yourself to predictable, incremental physical stressors in the gym or the playing field increases your capacity to be calm and clear headed in stressful real world situations.”

On the days when I skip my morning run or a weightlifting session, my wellbeing and productivity take a hit. I don’t feel as mentally sharp or confident about tackling my work. I’ve also noticed that I’m more likely to get distracted and give in to instant gratification during a work sprint.

 

5. Help your future self

Can you do anything in the evening to prepare for your morning work sprints? Completing a few quick tasks before bed can help you conserve energy the next day.

Here are a few simple things I like to do in the evening to get ready for the day ahead:

  • I make my breakfast (overnight oats with berries)
  • I write a short list of the three main things I want to work on the next day
  • I lay out my exercise clothes and running shoes
  • I clear away clutter from my work desks
  • I avoid all screens an hour before bed (I plug my phone in to charge in my office and don’t touch it until the next day)

 

Doing these simple things allows me to carry out my morning routine with ease. Then, I can hit the ground running with a clear, focused mind for my first work sprint.

 

6. Design a distraction free environment

If I check my phone for messages and engage in frivolous texting first thing, I crave distraction and the dopamine hits that come with it for the rest of the day.

For these reasons, I have implemented the following tech rules:

  • No engaging in chat groups for the first 6 hours of the day
  • No checking email or looking at screens for the first hour of the day

 

This may sound extreme, but these restrictions are incredibly liberating. As the author of the book Stand Out of Our Light, James Williams states:

“Reason, relationships, racetracks, rules of games, sunglasses, walls of buildings, lines on a page: our lives are full of useful constraints to which we freely submit so that we can achieve otherwise unachievable ends.”

By blocking myself from digital distractions and all the noise that comes with it, I can focus on chipping away at the projects that are most important to me.

 

7. Prepare the mise en place

Just like a chef prepares all the ingredients before cooking a dish (i.e. they create the mise en place), set yourself up with everything you need to do your work. The last thing you want is to get a few minutes into a work sprint and realise you need to go find a pen that works.

If you have everything you need within arm’s reach, it’s easier to stay focused on the task and get into a flow state.

 

Sprint phase: Doing the Work (25 – 45 minutes)

Once the warm-up phase is complete, we move into the sprint phase. Now, it’s time to do the work.

If you’ve done the work in the warm-up phase, the sprint phase is a lot easier. All you need to do is:

  • Set a timer for the period you intend to work for
  • Do your best to focus on the task at hand until the timer goes off
  • If you get distracted, it’s okay. Write down the distracting thought and gently bring your focus back to your work.

 

There’s no need to feel rushed as you work. You’re not competing with anyone else. This is not a race. It’s totally fine to take things slow.

Don’t expect the sprint phase to be pleasant. Even after a fabulous warm-up, you will most likely feel some discomfort and resistance about doing the work. This is normal.

You’ll feel the urge to run from this discomfort. But instead of running from it, befriend it. Remind yourself that the point of these work sprints is to move the needle on the things that really matter to you.

 

Rest and Recovery Phase (5-30 minutes)

When the timer goes off, take a moment to acknowledge yourself for showing up to do the work. Remember, this practice takes practise, and you just got some reps in.

Now it’s time to rest. You’ll probably have some momentum by now, so you’ll feel like pushing on but stop what you’re doing and step away from your work. As Ali Abdaal mentions in his book Feel-Good Productivity:

“Rest breaks are not special treats. They are necessities.”

I’m not going to lie: this phase has been the hardest for me to master. As someone with workaholic tendencies, I’ve had to work hard at getting rest.

Why is the rest phase so important?

Because the longer you focus, the harder it is to maintain your focus. The act of focusing depletes your brainpower.

The best way to recharge a depleted brain is to rest.

Like focus, rest is a skill. It takes practise. You have to be able to resist the lure of busyness and our fast-paced, always-on culture.

Here are some of my favourite ways to rest and recharge at the moment:

  • Go for a short walk out in nature
  • Do some stretches from Bob Anderson’s excellent book Stretching
  • Chop vegetables in silence (no podcast or music playing)
  • Take a power nap
  • Cut out pictures and glue them down on paper (zine or collage making)
  • Lay on the floor with a bolster under my legs
  • Tidy up a surface
  • Journal in my notebook
  • Prepare a toddler tray of healthy snacks (this is for myself, not a toddler!)

 

Whenever I find myself wondering whether to keep working or take a break, I ask myself:

“What kind of boss do I want to be for myself? A mean-spirited, hard taskmaster? Or a generous, caring boss who looks out for their employees’ wellbeing?”

The answer is simple: I choose to be a generous boss to myself. Therefore, I give myself permission to rest.

To sum up

I’ve come to see each of the phases of working like a sprinter (Warm-up, Sprint, and Rest and Recovery) as critical to staying healthy and balanced. Through trial and error, I’ve learned that skipping the warm-up or rest phase or going too hard in the sprint phase can lead to chaos and exhaustion.

As you cultivate the practice of working like a sprinter, significant things will happen to you. Not only will you notice that your productivity goes through the roof, but you’ll experience mental calm and clarity like never before.

As digital distractions no longer dominate your day, the noise of the world gets dialled down. You’ll find it easier to tune into what you need and what matters most to you.

I cannot stress enough that this is a practice that takes practise! One or two sprints won’t cut it. You need to persevere for long enough to experience the incredible benefits of this powerful practice.