About a year ago, I stumbled upon Merlin Mann’s procrastination hack, the (10+2)*5. Simply put, it posits that one should focus strenuously on tasks for ten minutes, then take a two minute breather, and then return to the tasks. The few times I’ve consciously used it, it’s been rather useful, making the day go by quickly and productively.
The main issue, however, is that the scheme relies on two countdown timers alternating themselves. My countdown timer, Apimac Timer, doesn’t have this functionality, and for some reason I didn’t cotton to Mann’s suggestion, Minuteur, which is a Mac-only application, anyway. I got sick of having to type “10″ and “2″ over and over, so I abandoned the system, even though it was showing benefits.
So today, while procrastinating, I decided I would write a webpage that counts down ten minutes, plays a sound, counts down two minutes, and plays a different sound. It then repeats it until you’ve accomplished enough for the day!
You can initate your own instance of the procrastination manager by clicking here.
I wrote the page using jQuery (which I also had to learn today), specifically Keith Wood’s countdown script and jPlayer to play the two sounds. The start of play time is announced by the new SNCF jingle that I harvested from somewhere online. The start of work time is announced with the super annoying buzz from the Paris Métro that means you had better rush into a subway car, lest the doors swing shut on you (this happened to me!). That sound I edited down from the original I downloaded from Sound-Fishing.
Also, you can pause the counters if you leave for lunch or something or someone comes and bothers you and knocks you off your game.
Mann suggests, and I noticed this myself, that after only a few iterations, the work time starts getting longer and breaks start getting deferred. If you want this effect, this script is not for you, since it won’t adapt to your mixture of work and play. It’s not that smart. On the other hand, nothing is stopping you from copying the code and making your own page with your own sounds and your own time spans.
Anyway, I hope this helps you focus!
Tags: jQuery, Merlin Mann, Métro, Paris, procrastination, SNCF
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