More for Less

Plodders: it's a wicked web they weave...

Alongside my day job, I'm currently studying for a teaching qualification. It's an intensive course, being concentrated into about a third of the time it would normally be delivered in. Anyway, last week, returning from my holidays, I realised that I'd allowed the work to pile up. I now had a day to complete four assignments (amounting to a few thousand words). Gulp!

Habitually, I panicked. However, I then thought about some of the things I'd been disussing with T., and decided to be strategic about this. I cleared my work-space in advance and mapped out the order in which I'd tackle the tasks. I took my electronic timer with me and worked in 20 minutes bursts, with 10 minute breaks. By about 10pm I'd completed all the assignments.

Working in brain-friendly ways is the efficient and effective way to success and productivity. This is contrary to so much of our work - and academic - culture. There's an almost macho need to 'prove' that we're working all hours, every hour... oh, but at what cost - diminishing returns are inevitable. Interestingly, the 'breaks' I scheduled in, proved to be the points at which I had my eureka moments. The brain ticks away and thinks better when we're relaxed. I wish I were a manager of a team and had the power to put this into practice - to make it an embedded practice in the workplace (I'd throw in exercise, higher function logic games and relaxation as well - for good measure).

And finally... why do I have a picture of a spider at the top of the page? Because working with breaks bought me the time to 'play' with my camera and take lots of snaps of spiders on their webs in my garden, that's why! (apologies to arachnophobes amongst you).

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