How to Stay Productive in 8+ Hours of Work

Eight hours is a lot of time. In eight hours, you can watch at least six episodes of your favorite TV series, read two paperback books, cook more than ten dishes, or sleep enough for the next day.

Why is it, then, that we seem to accomplish so little in the eight hours of a typical workday?

Research says that we’re usually only productive for three out of these eight hours. Endless distractions abound–checking email, social media notifications, unnecessary meetings, multitasking when it actually slows us down.

But don’t beat yourself up for not being able to work for several hours straight. The human brain was never designed to hyperfocus for too long. As well-intentioned as you are, try pushing yourself to do something throughout the day, without a break, and you’ll eventually find your attention drifting, fatigue setting in.

Work hard, but play hard too

The key to being productive is to cooperate with–and not fight against–how our brain functions: by working in sprints. This follows the “work hard, play hard” philosophy. When you’re working, you’re really working–it’s a complete commitment to the task, without giving in to distractions. You know you’re doing it right when you get into a state of flow, where everything else fades away and you lose track of time.

But we’re not encouraging you to be workaholics here. Likewise, when you rest, you have to step away from the computer and do something that’s completely unrelated to your task. Scrolling through your feed doesn’t count as resting. What does is chatting with your coworkers, doodling, or meditating.

Better yet, take a walk outside. Sitting down the entire day takes its toll on our health, and you’d be surprised by how much stretching or even just pacing around the room can freshen you up.

“But I don’t want to seem like I’m slacking off!”

If taking a break makes you feel guilty, consider how unproductive you’ll be without. When you’re focused for hours, your brain consumes a lot of glucose and oxygen, leaving you tired–and pretty much running on empty gas–if you don’t replenish.

Ever got an idea while showering? Relaxing or daydreaming also gives your brain the space to process ideas or and come up with new insights, which is why several artists swear on taking idle walks for creative inspiration.

Two popular productivity systems

To make sure that your breaktime doesn’t get out of hand and you’re not procrastinating when you’re supposed to be working, you can try timing yourself. There are two popular productivity systems for this. Feel free to experiment with what works for you, or even create your own:

Pomodoro method

For shorter bursts, try the Pomodoro method–and yes, “pomodoro” is Italian for tomato, because the guy who started it used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer.

Achieving one pomodoro means you work for 25 minutes, then take a break for five minutes. After four pomodoros, you can reward yourself with a longer break, around 30 mins.

Online timer: https://tomato-timer.com/

The 52-17 formula

What’s good about the Pomodoro method is it decomposes tasks into easier chunks. 25 minutes doesn’t seem so intimidating. But some people can find this annoying–at 25 minutes, they’re already in the flow, and would want to continue longer.

An alternative is the 52-17 ratio, where you work for 52 minutes and rest for 17 minutes. It may seem arbitrary, but it’s been shown to increase productivity.

Online timer: http://www.fokasutime.com/

You can tweak the numbers to your personal work rhythm by playing around with various ratios and checking how that affects your productivity. On the other hand, if you’d rather go free-flow and ditch the timer, just keep in mind that all of these systems ultimately boil down to working with purpose and recharging with frequent breaks. Hold to that, and you should be fine.

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