Most people struggle with not being able to get enough done in their day, and entrepreneur Ken Conklin believes that that primary reason is because most people are approaching their work incorrectly.
Ken, who is the founder of Gravel to Castle Accelerator, recently shared a strategy with me that he says is his “magic formula” for getting a lot of work done in a very short amount of time. He calls it his “50-10s” strategy.
This strategy consists of working for a full fifty minutes on one specific task without any interruptions, and then immediately taking a ten minute break after the fifty minutes is up. Ken stated that it is crucial to take a break after you’ve been working for a while because it allows you to stay focused when working.
“What taking a short and simple break does is it keeps your brain focused, which is what most people fail to do throughout their work day,” Ken told me. “When you allow yourself to step away from your desk or work station for a few minutes to either grab some fresh air or a quick snack, you are allowing your brain to relax for a few minutes so that it can be prepared to get back in the ring. You’ll feel recharged.”
I decided to give this strategy a shot yesterday, for I tend to sometimes feel like my work days aren’t always as productive as they really could be. Once I had finished a few “50-10” sessions, I actually felt that I had gotten a lot more done in just those few hours than I had the entire previous few work days.
Not only was the break helpful for me, for I felt like I was actually able to recharge, I also felt more focused by only tackling one task at a time.
Ken mentioned to me the importance of not trying to do numerous things at once when working during the fifty minutes. He stated that it’s much more effective and productive to focus on accomplishing one task at a time, and then immediately moving onto the next one once the previous task has been completely crossed off your list.
His strategy worked quite well for me, and I highly suggest anyone looking to become more productive to give it a shot themselves.
Who knows, maybe it will become your standard procedure throughout your upcoming work weeks if it ends up serving you.