Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Focusing for a long period of time is contradictory, but it is possible.

Graduate school in 1983 (yes, I am that old): I had to study a text on a new concept called object-oriented software. I don’t mean read the text, I mean read it, study it, master it. I faced a ten-hour day.

My process:

1. study the text for 50 minutes at the dining-room table
2. sit in the Lazy Boy recliner under the wall clock and close my eyes
3. the clock chimed at the hour (sometimes waking me)
4. back to step 1

This worked. Periods of intense effort, a.k.a., focus followed by periods of rest.

I still use this process in writing. I set a timer for 25 minutes. I put the timer out of sight and write as fast as I can. When the timer rings, I take five minutes to walk about and stretch my back, neck, arms, hands, etc. Using this process, I can write for hours at a rate of at least 1,400 words an hour. (Some people tell me that is an extremely high rate, but given I use this process it seems normal to me.)