I never used a timer myself before, but I actually stick to this schedule pretty good unless I am heavy into redesigning a website or doing some coding. I tried the timer the last few days and it works out much better.
Leo over at Zenhabits posted a nice article on combating procrastination and getting things done.
Here is my Productivity system to help you remain focused.
- Every day I have certain tasks that need to be done. To remain focused and productive I concentrate on these tasks for 40 minutes at a time. During this time I ignore my email beeps and just work on the task at hand. I then take a break for 20 minutes. I smoke, so that takes about 5-7 minutes then I use the restroom, fill my water glass, get another Dew or whatever… just anything to get up and move around.
- The remaining 10 – 15 minutes is used to check my emails, check my site stats, etc. Then it is back to work for another 40 minutes.
After sticking with this for just a few days I noticed that I have been much more productive and I actually feel better after getting up and moving around and stretching a little once an hour.
While you are up walking around do some shoulder and neck rolls to loosen up those tightened muscles from hunching over your keyboard. This will help with your circulation as well.
Leo pointed me to Cool Timer which works great.
You know what, first when I saw this post, I was confused but later I realised this is what I had adapted and it really works.
Your body needs some change from routine sometimes.