Context

For the past 10 years and and even since I was a high school student, I wondered how can I get more things done in less time without draining my energy.

Throughout, the years, I noticed that what I was lacking is a systematic workflow that help me increase my deep work hours without burning all of my energy.

I was looking for something that checks all of these boxes:

• Lean workflow, that won’t break when something urgent comes in.

• Play nicely with high level of context switching.

• Easy to follow.

• Longer break time.

• Easy to measure.

Now that I understood the requirements, It was easier for me to try different workflows and techniques and tune it for my case.

Pomodoro

The problem with Pomodoro was how strict it was in respecting the cycle length. Even if I finished the task, I had to come up with something productive to do until the end.

But the good thing that Pomodoro brings is the idea of work cycle that you could take longer breaks between them.

Flowtime

Flowtime is a more loose technique which eliminates the idea of a timer and time boundaries and focus on you, the individual.

Yet, in Flowtime, you need to document the start time and end time for every task. Which for me felt like an unnecessary work.

At this point, I knew that I had to come up with a technique that works for me. One that mix between Pomodoro’s idea of work cycles and Flowtime flexibility.

Finding my workflow.

After months of trial and error, I finally found a workflow that helped me be the most productive version of myself without being tired all the time.

Like Pomodoro, we divide a single day into smaller focus cycle. A workday is usually between 4 and 6 working cycles.

A cycle could last between 45 mins to 180 mins. This depends on many factors, including task size, interruptions, calendar, and personal matters.

Every cycle begins with a small planning phase, this includes spinning my local development environment, or doing quick due diligence on the task.

And because most of what I do in this phase is a routine work, it takes between 5 and 15 mins, but gets me into the battle rhythm for the next phase.

After a small break, I get into this loop where I work through my task while taking a short break (5-10 mins) between every stopping point.

I keep this rhythm going until I get tired, bored or interrupted. Which is fine because I try to commit to a stopping point every 15 to 30 mins.

In busy days, I take long breaks between cycles. Sometimes up to 30 mins, which I typically spend hanging around with my wife, getting a snack or taking a nap.

In less busy days, I take longer breaks, sometimes up to 2 hours. In which I run home errands, go outside, or play video games.

This help me feel relaxed even in the most stressful days. But most importantly, I can measure how productive I was with 2 different metrics.

1- How much work did I finish in each cycle?

2- How many cycles did I manage to finish every day?

This workflow helped me become very productive and organized without using any specific time management and planning tools. It also gives me full control of how my day will look like.

I get to work hard and be productive without feeling tired or drained. And most importantly, I get to spend more time with my family and friends.