The benefits of binary

I recently purchased a Pomodoro timer. It has one timer on top and another timer on the bottom. It's meant to increase your focus. You set the top timer for how long you want to work, and you set the bottom timer for how long you want to take a break.

We all know the power of what we can accomplish in a short burst of focus. The Pomodoro timer helps you achieve more of those short bursts due to one reason: it makes your decisions binary.

Work is a battle. 

We face distraction and demotivation on all sides. When we encounter a block, the question arises...should I stop? Should I take a little break? Should I work on something else? The less we are in flow state, the more we ask ourselves these questions. Minutes drag on as we hit speed bump after speed bump.

The magic of the Pomodoro timer is that it's binary. 

You decide before what it is you want to accomplish in the working timer's window. Then, you set the timer, get to work, and whenever you're faced with one of those nagging questions, you don't have to waste decision-making energy on whether or not you should keep working. The timer will tell you if you should keep working.

Is the job done? Is the timer up? No? Then keep working. It's only for a few more minutes. Keep pushing. Let's see if we can get this done before the timer goes off.

I don't need to tell you, a reader of this productivity blog, about what this means. About how important this is for your goals, your family, your friends, your free time.

You already know.

Time is not a renewable resource. It’s the only thing we can’t make ore of and we can’t get back. 

Take control of it.