1. DIY Intervention:
Focus and Productivity
JanessaEscajeda
NTR 598, Fall 2013

2. Problem: how to focus
• Why?
• Always jumping from task to task, don’t know where
my time is going
• Distracted at home, online
• I’ve gotten away with it, last minute (brain dead)
• Preferences
• Prefer getting small tasks out of the way
• Think in terms of 1-2 days out, not week(s)
• Work best in the morning: focus on one thing

3. Purpose: Prioritize
• FirstTask Pro
• Android app created by my uncle (beta version)
• Basically a Master “To Do” list
• Create categories with a list of tasks and mark which is
highest priority
• “Today” category lists the those items and you pick which
of them is the highest priority from there
• Therefore, you should always be working on your most
important task

4. Planning: May not work
• Found that reoccurring tasks didn’t fit well into this
priority scheme
• Something bigger may be more “important” but
something else may be be due sooner
• Can’t realistically complete those items, so can’t check
off… so nothing to show I was doing anything
• So switched gears: the Pomodoro Technique
• Breaking time into 25 minute “pomodoros” followed by
short break (5 min)
• After 4 Pomodoros take a longer break (20-30 min)
• Used FocusBooser (focusboosterapp.com)

5. Progress: Productivity
• More realistic for me
• Breaking large tasks into smaller chunks so start on
them sooner
• Flexibility to alternate with small tasks
• Results?
• Hard to measure (catch-22)
• Quantify focused time
• Past Wednesdays: don’t start until 12 or 1pm
• Started only with 2-3 pomodoros in the evening, then 6
• Today I started at 9 and focused until 3