1) Salami Method
The Salami Method is a way of slicing up a big task that takes a lot of time into smaller chunks of time. Allocate an amount of time it would take to finish a task, then slice it up into pieces and gobble the slices up one by one.
Good for: biggish task of all varieties for which you can estimate a rough total time to subdivide in chunks.
2) Interval Technique
This can be used as a modification to the Salami Method or time bursting techniques. Much like one sees in cardio training workout schedules, what you do is start with small bursts of work and slowly increase the amount of time. For example, start with working for 5 minutes, take a 2 minute break, then work 10 minutes, take a 4 minute break, then work 15 minutes and so forth. The reverse can also be done. Start with long stints when you’re still fresh and work your way done, making the day lighter and easier as it wears on.
Good for: ‘High-Resistance’ Tasks, learning, things you want to get better at, important tasks.
4) Minimum Principle Timer Technique
The minimum principle timer technique is a very powerful way to overcome resistance toward starting a task. It also helps us tend to the tasks we most actively avoid and dread. You make a mini-commitment of maybe 1-10 minutes, I typically go for 5 minutes. The idea is to agree on the allotted time, that if you make, you’ve accomplished your goal and made progress. If you find yourself getting momentum, you’re allowed to continue working. A lot of people have trouble starting, not so much continuing a task. This is a cunning way to outsmart that tendency.
Good for: Tasks that you have trouble starting on, high-resistance tasks. Any goals you want to make daily progress on. Habit change.
5) Capping
Capping is especially good for activities that tend to get out of hand. Think Facebook, Email, Surfing. What you do is set a cap on how much time you will spend on a certain activity. The benefit is you give yourself permission to do whatever activity in a guilt-free environment and you limit the damage it does on the rest of your day. I’ve also seen this personally work great on regular work activities, especially problem solving, where I often don’t take breaks when I need to.
Good for: Activities that one tends to overspend on, like emailing, facebook, web surfing. Any activity that doesn’t bring an equitable return proportionate to its time investment. Also a great way to balance out working on multiple projects.
6) Whole-Units Technique
This technique is great for helping us work through barriers of resistance. Those times when we want to give up, but when we push on for a while on, that is where we get the results. To apply this technique determine the length of your work unit. This could for example be 15 minutes. Then time your activity. You follow a single rule which states that you can’t stop halfway a unit. You have to stop after the lenght of unit. So if you are doing units of 15 minutes, you can either stop at the 15 minute mark, the 30 minute mark or the 45 miunte mark and so forth.
Good for: High value activities where the extra effort can yield high returns. For ‘core activities’. Also works for high-resistance activities, because its a gentle way to follow through via mini-commitments.
7) Clocking
Clocking is great for monotonous low level tasks. It could be for cleaning your kitchen or decluttering your files. Either time yourself and try and beat your previous record, or set a countdown alarm with a time that encourages efficient work. In essence, you’re making a game or a sport of whatever you are doing, which is just the fun some activities need.
Good for: Activities that you can safely speed up and that are helped by a playful incentive. Mostly appropriate for monotonous tasks that require little mental energy, like house chores. Also a great way to beat perfectionism when doing creative tasks.
8 ) Dual Clock Technique
The most exotic of the bunch, the dual clock technique is great for people that find themselves behind on their days because they wake up at irregular times or just at very late times. What you do is use a second clock (many wrist watches have these) and when you wake up, you set the second clock to 00:00. As the day goes on, you’ll have a better measure of the pace of the day. It works great for counteracting the feeling of running behind time.
Good for: Developing a sense of the pace of a day and making your day-to-day patterns more conscious . Especially relevant to people that are late risers, or have irregular sleeping schedules.
10) Sandclock of Life Technique
Not my favorite of the bunch and certainly not for everyone. What you do is calculate from a point in the future where you think you will ‘pass on’, like a 100 years old. Set a countdown clock based on that future date. Make the countdown clock noticeable to remind yourself that time is a finite resource and every moment is precious, so spend it wisely. Nothing like seeing how many hours you might left and how fast it goes by when you’re idling away.
Good for: Those that need a kick in the pants. Those people that require a less subtle technique to kick themselves out of hesitation and procrastination and into doing meaningful work.
11) Alarms technique
There are a few ways of doing this timer technique. What you do is set alarms to go at various times in the day, like every 15 minutes. When it goes off, stop and notice what you are doing and be aware of how you are feeling. You might want to refocus, you might want to reflect, you might want to take a short break or you just might want to be reminded of something you find valuable. During work hours, you could set a random timer to remind yourself of a message, like ‘KISS’ (keep it simple silly/stupid), or always be closing, or whatever mantra is relevant to you.
Good for: People that want to be reminded/trained into focusing on what they value (or what they should avoid).
If you have any techniques to add, I would love to hear them.
This was a good find:
The anti-pomodoro timer technique:
http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/2010/05/staying-focused-the-anti-pomodoro-technique/
Great collection of timer techniques! I would add the time budget and the Action Machine approach in which you set aside a given amount of time for all the activities you want to do in a day and switch tasks when the timer goes off.
I love what they’ve done with the Action Machine. Thank you for the time budget addition Mel!