My teenage productivity hack

How 8-bit video games and comic books led me to the Pomodoro technique and time tracking

Although I have always been a good student, in my mid-teens my mind was not as focused on school as Iused to be. For the first time ever I faced the risk of failing a year. No school subject had ever been a challenge until that moment. My problem: algebra.

Trial & error

I had no option other than to study. More than that, I had to accept that fact and work very hard. As I had never before. My first attempts were disastrous, though. My notion of hard work was sitting on a desk with books and endless sheets of notes for as long as I could keep my eyes open. So I did. Next day, there I was again. This time feeling miserably bored and frustrated as I realized I had forgotten most of what I had studied the previous day.

8-bit Ryu Hayabusa

During one of this sessions of going back and forth through pages that did not make much sense, I decided I needed a break. My (then not) old Nintendo was there, sort of abandoned on the lower tray of the TV rack. A thin layer of dust starting to form over it. A couple weeks before I had decided to give Tecmo’s “Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos” a chance. I loved it but we are talking about a time when there were no memory cards or hard disks in video games and “Contine?” options were very limited. It took dedication and focus to win those games. Fortunately, although Ninja Gaiden remains to this day one of my favorite video-game series, I had taken interest in other things through that year. Therefore, Ryu Hayabusa had been left aside for a while. Nevertheless, at that moment most of my other interests were not anywhere near. I thought that maybe half an hour or so of Ninja Gaiden would not hurt. Then, I went on and turned my Nintendo on. Very responsibly, I thought. Only half an hour. Once I “felt” half an hour had passed, I quit and turn the thing off. I “felt” wrong, though. Over two hours had passed. I felt better after putting my mind on something else for a little while but as soon as I noticed for how long I had not studied, I freaked out. Still, I felt much better as I got back to study and things seemed to make more sense than they did before. The problem was I knew I could not make video game breaks every now and then. As mentioned before, it was not like I could quit whenever I wanted, save my progress and next time pick from where I stopped. Turning off my NES meant I had to get back to the very beginning of the game and pass those initial stages I had been through (literally) dozens of times. I had no time for that.

Without giving it much further thought I just went back to my studies. I already knew things could work better if I gave myself breaks. Still, I had a lot to do and a scary final exam not so far ahead. I thought that allowing Ninja Gaiden to be a part of my life at that moment could end up doing more damage than good.

Finding a direction

Next day, more to study. Same thing. At a certain point there I was, going back and forth though pages as I tried to make sense of the new chapters I entered. The break thing had worked. I just needed to find a way how to do it so I would not damage my study efforts. Thought of watching TV but not necessarily there would be something interesting on. Plus, if there was, it would be sad to stop in the middle so I could end up having breaks longer than I wanted. I considering reading a book, as I had been just givena copy of Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” but I did not feel like going from one book to another then back.

Miller’s Daredevil

Weeks before I had successfully finished a series of scavenging sessions through second hand comic book stores around town. My fulfilled goal: to have all of Daredevil’s comic books written and drawn by Frank Miller in the early 1980´s. There were around 60 editions if I included those written or drawn by others but that I needed to read so the whole thing would make sense. That was something I could start and stop at any time and still give my mind some rest. I did as planned. After every hour of study I would give myself 20 minutes of rest reading Miller’s Daredevil. I was pretty much working with the Pomodoro concept.

The Pomodoro Technique is one of those things that make you think “Why didn’t I think about that before?”. Well, Francesco Cirillo just turned the idea into a method. One you could possibly had come up with. You didn’t, though. Neither did I. A few years ago when I was introduced to Cirillo’s Pomodoro Technique I immediately thought of my mid-teen algebra efforts described above and how that could have saved me the time of going through that trial and error period. Still, there was something good to it. The story is not over.

Developing a reward system

At some point I realized that it would work better for me to define work and breaks not according to time but to a certain amount of pages. So, every few sub-chapters I would give myself a corresponding break. If I felt like I was going through a good streak in my studies I would just go with it a bit longer and then give myself a corresponding extra amount of pages to read in the comic books. It worked very well, I started to move faster though my algebra subjects and things were making sense much easier. I decided to try and apply my new method to other pastimes during my breaks. I did the videogame, the TV, books, listening to music and even comfort food (Mars Bars were my favorite). Comic books were still the best. Nevertheless, it was worthy to give another try to all those things.

This is what this whole article is about: an alternative approach to a work/break reward system. One in which the length of each phase is not pre-defined but arranged according to your personal needs and accommodated to your possibilities. I tried different things until I realized that some activities would require more time than others to rest my mind so I could get back to my duties. I also found out that after some activities it would take me longer to go through the same amount of pages in my algebra book than others. As an example, if after a session of around 30 minutes of video games it would take me 90 minutes to go through a certain amount of pages, 30 minutes of comic books would allow me to go through the same amount in 2/3 of the time. At the same time, 30 minutes of TV would hardly feel as a reward and 30 minutes of reading could end up making me more tired than before I took the brake.

Combining Time Tracking and the Pomodoro Technique

It will work different for every person. Different people will come to different results and conclusions about what should their breaks consist of according to what activity they have as a duty at that moment. My suggestion to save yourself from the relatively lengthy trial and error phase I went through, is to track your time. See how different rewards impact different activities, how much and how easily you can produce according to what you do during your breaks.

Do it by listing a few activities you would like to spend your breaks doing. For the time being, define a duration for your brakes. My suggestion is that at this trial period you give them no longer than 15 minutes. After each break, work until you feel you need a new break. Track that time always writing down what your break and work consist of. In the end, compare. You will see that some activities, although very pleasant, cannot help you cool off your mind in a short period. Others will.

The point is: different activities have different effects on different people. More so in the long run. It may not make much sense to define the same amount of work and rest no matter whether you are carrying a laptop or a sack of cement. With the first, you can comfortably walk miles and take a five-minute break every now and then. With the latter, you may need to take the same 5 minutes every few dozen steps. Plus, what the break consists of will make a difference. Forcing yourself to carry the sack of cement for as long as you do with a laptop without a break will at leave you in a state that next day you cannot move out of bed or worse. Also, always consider that to some people certain activities may involve more effort than to others. As an example, some people find cooking boring and exhausting so after preparing a meal they need rest. Others find it so stimulating and relaxing that, even if they see it as a duty, right after that they are ready for whatever demanding job they are supposed to engage in.

primaERP’s dashboard (mobile and browser versions)

Tracking time, at least every now and then, will most likely help more than guessing. Implement time tracking to your daily routine and find out how activities combine better. Time tracking can be done in several ways. Most people do it in writing or with a software. My personal suggestion is to use a software. Besides the convenience of having part of the work done by the computer or smartphone, most decent time tracking applications provide reports that may offer a clear overview of what you have been doing and how you are performing. Since we are in the age of cloud computing and mobile apps, my suggestion is primaERP since it is free for individual use and very user-friendly. There are other good options out there, though. Just make sure you pick one that allows you to register multiple projects, tasks and activities. If you consider using it for work, being able to register multiple clients is definitely a plus. A billing feature can be of great help, especially if you are a freelancer.

Once you have decided your time tracking method, try different work/break combinations. Analyze the data you collect to see what job is more extenuating and what reward is more refreshing. See whether this alternative approach to the Pomodoro Technique can help you work smarter.

Happily ever after

I passed then algebra test with an A. Eventually I beat Ninja Gaiden II and I am a huge fan of Daredevil and Frank Miller to this day. I applied the method I taught myself back then to academic theses and several other activities through life. Getting to know the Pomodoro Technique and the concept of time tracking later on only helped. See how it goes to you. Good luck!

Ninja Gaiden II’s ending scene

By G. Costa

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