Goal-Keeping Hack: The Short or the Long of It?
Studies show short sessions of work, and mixing up subject matter, are equal or of greater value than singular lengthy sessions, which is good news for all of us.
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Recently, I had someone I know (not going to name names here) try to tell me to do all of a particular project (mind-numbing paperwork that is associated with any kind of business venture, even the creative ones), in one single session of several hours.
I didn’t do it. Why? Because I have a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and English from Western Washington University, and when I received that degree, WWU was considered the best place to get an Education degree in Washington state. Why? Because we were reading cutting edge studies and utilizing new methodologies in our classes.
Of course, that was over twenty years ago, so did those studies and practices hold up?
Yes, they did. The method of doing shorter, smaller and varied sessions of study for an increased benefit in memorization, retention, and creativity, has held weight in the fields of psychology, education, creative ventures, and in any workplace.
If you want to get the most out of your study, work, or creative sessions, break them into smaller components of 15-25 minutes with breaks of 5-10 minutes in between them, and vary your subject from session to session.
Some individuals like a longer 45-minute session with a slightly longer break, but the idea of breaking up work sessions (for any kind of work, or practice) holds up as being superior to slogging through a long, slow, super-session over a long day.
This is really good news for me as a writer because I like writing in short sessions, breaking up my work throughout the day, and changing up activities from one session to the next: write project 1, clean something, write project 2, go for a walk, write project 1, stretch, write project 3, prep for teaching, write, phone calls, do the business paperwork, stretch, write… and you get the idea. I love breaking up my work and find it highly effective.
Do you use short sessions or longer sessions for your work?
I suggest giving short work sessions a try. See if your performance, retention, output, or creativity improve.