I am a very inefficient person. I have a short attention span, and I will almost always choose instant gratification over longer term productivity. I hate this about myself, because it means I can’t do so many activities that I think of as integral to my personality. Generally, I think people feel better after serious achievement than instant gratification. While my productivity problem has yet to seriously affect my grades, (as I normally crunch assignments in last minute,) it pushes my homework and chores further and further into the day, cutting out time I could use to practice hobbies, sports, or even just take a walk. The reason I haven’t posted in a year is because I didn’t have the time to because my days were filled with procrastination, and even if I wanted to I was too lazy to write my weekly post that I envisioned a few years ago when I started the blog. Not only does instant gratification reduce my free time, it shortens my attention span further, pulling me into a violent cycle. In this post, I am going to explain a method my parents came up with to combat this lack of productivity, as they tell me that they struggle with the same issue.
The reason I’m writing this post isn’t to help myself; after all, I already know and utilize this strategy. It’s to help others who struggle with productivity, and more specifically, people in my generation. Talking to friends and people at my school, I have begun to realize the toll Covid had on this generation’s productivity. Most people can’t focus on an assignment for 10 minutes without checking their phone or watching Youtube, myself included. I know people who routinely start their homework after midnight. Now, I’m not the first person to notice this – everybody, my generation included, understands how messed up this generation’s productivity is. I’m writing this post to decrease stigmatization, and hopefully help a few people so they can work more productively and feel better about themselves. I think this is best explained by someone who has had that experience of waking up from hours of scrolling on Instagram, Tiktok, or Youtube and feeling terrible because you haven’t gotten anything done. So why are we this way, and how do we solve it?
Well, to put it simply, social media. Almost everybody in this generation knows how social media affects our sense of instant gratification and work and reward – if you don’t, here’s a Wall Street Journal video, which explains it pretty well: (https://www.wsj.com/video/how-smartphones-sabotage-your-brains-ability-to-focus/72E56EB0-0B92-44BF-9897-08461040E3E8)
When you don’t have your phone or computer for a while, you feel like your missing something. You get bored easily. You might think this reliance on social media, (and starved feeling when you don’t have it,) sounds a lot like a drug addiction. And you’d be right; they are scientifically very similar. Dopamine, the chemical which makes you feel good in the short term, is released both when you check Insta, and when you smoke meth. It’s just very different amounts. And they both push you into a vicious cycle of use, where every time you use you become even more reliant, and when you don’t use you feel terrible. As I mentioned earlier, many people in my generation got pushed into this cycle during quarantine, when we were all constantly on devices, and the internet was one of the only sources of entertainment.
But there is an important factor we need to focus on here: social media doesn’t just get you addicted to it, it generally degrades your attention span. Even if you don’t have a device on you, you are still affected by a messed up system of gratification. When I do my homework, even if my computer and phone are in different rooms and out of my mind, I can’t focus without standing up, walking around, talking to somebody, or at the very least thinking about something else. It’s as simple as that: I, and many others in this generation, can’t focus anymore. So on to the more fun part of this post: how do we fix this?
The method I use was made by my parents, as they face the same issue, though they are probably somewhat more productive than me. It’s called the Doro. Long story behind the name, it is indirectly named this because the Pomodoro strategy is the inspiration for this system. My parents designed this whole system because of a joke that I can’t explain in this post.
The concept is pretty simple. First, you prepare any work you have and set it out in front of you. Also, plug your laptop in, go to the bathroom, that kind of stuff. You set a 1 hour timer on a kitchen timer or phone. For that hour, you work hard with no interruptions. And I mean no interruptions. You turn your phone off and put it in another room. You can have your computer, but you can’t have it open when your work doesn’t require it, and you can’t even open a tab if it isn’t immediately necessary to your work. No stretch breaks, no bathroom breaks, no food, no talking. I know. Brutal. If an hour of total focus seems like too much, you can always do 1/2, 1/3, or even 1/4 of a Doro. The length of the Doro doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you totally focus for the entire time. Why is this so important? Two reasons.
First of all, totally focusing and not allowing yourself any breaks shatters the thought that many people, myself included have when they procrastinate: “I have a lot of work, and I’m going to get it all done, so I’ll just watch one or two videos first.” The psychological attitude most people have is that they are going to have to get a lot of work done, so they just want a quick break first. It’s important to recognize that this often leads into complete stagnation and hours wasted. You have to set a defined time in which you have to work, and can’t take any breaks.
Secondly, working without any interruption makes you way more efficient – you go into this zone where you forget about everything outside of your work. This sounds strange, but often when I finish a Doro I almost feel sad. This is because instead of constantly waiting for it to be over, you actually lock in and stop thinking about the outside world. When it ends, you’re brought back into reality, which is a bit of a shock, because you were so productive.
And now comes the fun part: when you’re Doro finishes, it’s done. You can relax for as long as you want. It’s actually important to the work – reward system here that you don’t set a timer for breaks. Now you might be wondering, “wouldn’t you just stop working, and never finish your daily work?” Well, no. Why? Because their addictive. I know this sounds dumb, but hear me out. You kind of have to start doing Doros to understand what I mean, but the sense of fulfillment that you get from working for a defined amount of time without being distracted at all feels really good. You feel more confident and productive. And so you keep doing them until you’re finished with your work, with breaks as long as you want in-between. Sometimes, I just do them back-to-back, if I really want to get my work done. Still, most of the time, it’s better to take a walk or at least a stretch break in between them.
It’s important to think of Doros as units of work, as opposed to long stretches of work. You can reinforce this by fully completing every Doro even if your work is finished (explained in tips) and also taking actual breaks between Doros (explained in tips). Well, that’s the basics.
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
Doro Tips!
- You can count how many Doros you do in a day. Personally, I have a calendar for each day in the month, where every day I tally how many I do. I reward myself for reaching certain milestones. For instance, once I reach 20 Doros I’m buying myself this awesome silicon bear pencil case:
(https://cultpens.com/products/lihit-lab-punilabo-standing-pen-case
variant=43698925338867&country=US&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiApOyqBhDlARIsAGfnyMqcC4JoSuJ3vrz7MlZDTD2ToYCeMwaZVWsE63lQrQNSJqGdxOezz4aAlhvEALw_wcB) - Obviously, you can still do work outside of Doros, but make sure you don’t get into a habit of filling up all your breaks with work. I always have an urge to just get what I’m doing done with, but once you start not taking breaks and just sitting in a chair all day, you will wear yourself out and eventually start procrastinating. Instead, change your surroundings, whether this be through go into a different room and talking to people, or taking a walk outside, or doing some exercise and getting your heart rate up. This will make you more enthusiastic and less worn out before your next Doro.
- Try to do at least one every day. More than one is less important, but getting into a routine will ensure you don’t stop doing them a week after you start.
- Don’t use your phone for the timer, because then you can’t turn it off or put it in another room.
- I prefer to turn the timer away, because when I’m not waiting for the Doro to be over, not only do I focus more but it feels like it goes by faster.
- You can also get a non-numeric timer, because why not they’re cool. My mom uses an hourglass. Downside is that you might work too long because your newfound productivity was never interrupted by the shrill sound of an iPhone timer. Pretty upside for a downside, if I do say so myself.
- Unless they know and respect the rules, don’t do Doros in a room with other people if they are not also doing Doros. They might talk to you or distract you.
- Last bullet point said, I’ve found that group Doros with other people are, surprisingly, a lot more effective than solo Doros, even though you’re not supposed to talk. This is because as long as you all have your own work, talking shouldn’t be a serious problem, and other people decrease the chance of you failing, as they will correct you if you break the rules. Group effort! Also, it’s less lonely.
- If you finish your work, but you still have time left in the Doro, instead of ending the Doro prematurely find a way to use the extra time. Go over the reading again, check your homework answers, edit your paper for an even better final draft, or even do work that isn’t assigned for the near future, or just make something up! It’s good to complete Doros, because that mentally reinforces them as a unit of time, as opposed to just an incentive to get you working. It feels good to finish them, and also you will be able to put them on your calendar!
I would be happy if one person tried a Doro because of this post. Doros have really helped my productivity, and I feel a lot better generally now that I am more efficient, as I spend less time on social media and more time on things that matter to me, including (hopefully!) this blog.
Stay tuned for a Thanksgiving post this Friday!
P.S. for anyone wondering this took me exactly 2 and 1/3 Doros to write
Much Ado About Something 