Overwhelmed and overloaded?

Beyond exercise — using HIIT principles to tackle procrastination

How to reclaim your focus, conquer imposter syndrome and rediscover the joy of doing what you love with one simple hack

If you can answer “yes” to the following, this simple hack might just be the help you need.*

*Although this post focuses on writing, you can adapt it to achieve a wide range goals.

• Overwhelmed by conflicting priorities?
• Sabotaged by your creative procrastination strategies?
• Exhausted or so stressed you can’t focus?
• Unable to meet deadlines?
• Incapacitated by imposter syndrome?
• Frustrated when ‘must do’ overshadows ‘want to do’?

My Story

I was ‘productive and organised’ until retirement, health related fatigue and lock-down scrambled my ability to concentrate.

Initially I sought a solution in numerous productivity Apps until the chirpy ‘You’ve Got This’ notifications became an irritating reminder… I really, really hadn’t!

I hit ‘delete’, retaining only those that helped me to:

• Make time for the things I loved — Time Blocking.
• Bypass chronic perfectionism and imposter syndrome—Write or Die™
• Focus on one thing at a time… at least until the timer pinged — Pomodoro™

Yet still, I struggled to start, loved distractions, and never finished anything! To make matters worse, my search for a solution became yet another way to procrastinate.

Then, during the New Year (the only time one should contemplate exercise) I tried High Interval Training (HIIT) — fitness training involving consecutive periods of High-Intensity and Low Intensity exercise; repeated (far too many times) to create a Cycle, at the end of which there is a Period of Rest.

• High Interval-target 5 minutes: Practitioners of this unique form of torture swear by the benefits of the ‘go for the burn’ approach; my language was pretty ripe after 3 minutes. However, to give credit where it is due, I instantly became super-fit and never had to exercise again.
• Low Interval — target 10 minutes: I made the most of my 60 minute Low Interval, wondering if I could use HIIT for something remotely useful, while I searched YouTube for lovely recipes, and moved into my favourite stage…
• Period of Rest — target 30 minutes: I accidentally discovered this hack, during my 12-month Period of Rest…

Faced with a task so boring, I was tempted to exercise for 3 minute f(even though it wasn’t January). Luckily, a call from an Accident Claims Telemarketer provided an alternative distraction.

I felt we really connected… until she cut me off — all because I asked if multiple convictions for defrauding Accident Claim Companies would be an issue!!*

*Warning: Use this line, and they will never call you again. Ever!

Abandoned by my new judgemental ‘bestie’, I reluctantly got to work, forgetting that the App was still running until the Interval notification buzzed. Then Pomodoro's conditioning kicked in, and I switched to a burst of writing before returning to the task.

Maintaining this pattern throughout the day, I completed the task, and wrote 2000 words. Just enough to get through NanoWrimo if repeated for 30 days!

A glorious end to a traumatic day!

Later I experimented with different ‘work-outs’, to create a hack that tripled my creativity and output, and more importantly helped me to rediscover the joy of writing despite my fluctuating health issues.

For those of us who live with ongoing ill health/fatigue, life can be a constant round of resting through the down times and racing to complete essential day to day/life maintenance tasks before the next dip in energy.

At my lowest points, this hack has helped to capture a few minutes now and then just to keep doing a little of what I love (writing).

Give It a Go!

If you are ready to blitz procrastination, mute your inner critic or up your output:

Step 1: Download one of the many available HIIT Apps* for mobiles and computers.

*Warning: Advertisements for some Apps may include disturbing references to exercise, supported by people in sports gear running/sweating, etc.

The examples below are screenshots of the App on my phone (Interval Timer. Developer: Polycents™).

I chose this one because:

✓ It includes basic and complex sets, and a ‘save’ feature.

✓ Registration is not required.

✓ It was the first one I looked at.

Sample Input Page: Basic Interval Timer

Step 2: Decide activity/task for High and Low Intervals

You can rename Interval labels to reflect specific tasks or goals.

Step 3: Set the Interval times

Assign unique sounds to distinguish between High and Low Intervals.

Step 3: Set the number of Intervals per Cycle.

This will determine how long you work before taking a break.

Step 4: Chose the number of Cycles and length of rest period between Cycles

Adjust the number or length of Intervals or Cycles to tally with your time goal for the day. In the example above, the time goal (Total) is one and a half hours.

Step 5: Get to Work

Train yourself to switch activity when you hear the buzzer/ping.*

*Ignoring Interval notifications mutes the benefit of the hack; change the length of the Intervals if you’re tempted to run over.

Sample Input Page: Complex ‘Interval’ Timer

With the complex timer you can create individual Cycles to structure your day, according to your peak work times, changes in focus or workload.

• Warm Up: 10 minutes — I will be interrupted!
• Intervals and Cycles: Different settings for AM and PM reflect changes in my focus/ energy levels or tasks/goals for that day.
• Rest Cycles: Meal times/break times.

How can the HIIT Hack help you?

Make the most of a spare 5 minutes/half hour/hour etc: Create and save different time schedules, varying the length of Intervals and Cycles.

Train yourself to focus: Begin with short Intervals; gradually increase the duration of the High Intervals to extend your range of focus.

Resume activity after an unavoidable interruption: Set a day long HIIT Schedule and leave it running — the Interval notifications will nag you back to work!

Conquer Imposter Syndrome: Set short High Intervals that leave little time to listen to your self sabotage. Use Low Intervals to reward yourself. If your inner critic gets a hold during the Low Intervals, increase the High’s and reduce the Lows.

Tips

• Change isn’t always about that ‘new’ app or strategy — sometimes you just need to adapt what you have.
• If not managed, the hunt for that one strategy becomes a form of procrastination.
• Some cold callers don’t have a sense of humour, and some struggle with hypothetical questions.

Thank you for reading my post. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and find it useful.

I would love to read your feedback, and if you give it a go … how it worked for you?

Beneath my referral embed, I’ve included links to helpful Medium posts.

Helpful links:

Time Blocking — John Rampton

Write or Die — Ira Robinson

Pomodoro — Swollet

Interval Training — Ed-iT

Low Interval Training — Michael Hunter, MD