huffingtonpost - 30 days ago

Between checking emails, responding to Slack messages, flitting between 20 different tabs (spreadsheets, Google docs, you name it) and occasionally being distracted by notifications flashing up on my it’s perhaps no wonder I get to the end of each day thinking: what did I actually achieve?And chances are I’m not alone. We’re in the age of extreme multitasking, trying to get a billion things done at any given time, but there’s one slight hiccup in that our brains are actually incapable of completing more than one task at a time.And when the brain does have to switch between different tasks, it can cause something called a switch cost or switch tax, which the NeuroLeadership Institute describes as “a delay that happens when the brain stores information related to an abandoned task and redirects its attention to a new one”.Understandably, all this multitasking – which our brain can’t handle – isn’t good for us. Brown University Health said it can temporarily increase stress levels, which can raise blood pressure and heart rate. As a result, experts advise minimising multitasking where possible.How the 90-minute rule could help get your brain back on trackIn a video on TikTok, Olivia Yokubonis, the creator behind Olivia Unplugged, proposed a 90-minute rule to help people finally get their tasks completed.She suggested taking multitasking “off the table” which means setting your phone aside, setting your priorities (because “you can’t study four subjects at once”), and setting your space so it supports focused work – so basically, not working in bed or on the sofa.“I’d like to add a note about willpower,” said Yokubonis, who is the social media manager at focus app Opal. “This is not about willpower – we are far past willpower. It’s about building an environment where distraction doesn’t even stand a chance.”She proposed a method that’s similar to the Pomodoro technique, where people work for 25 minutes before taking a break for 2-5 minutes, but instead ramps up the time spent working to 90 minutes. Experts say it follows the body’s ‘ultradian’ rhythm“We might be familiar with circadian rhythms, but our brains also run off of something called an ultradian rhythm – they are natural cycles of about 90 minutes of high focus and then a dip, which means you’ve got a built-in timer and you’re going to work with it,” said Yokubonis.According to neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, ultradian cycles are “approximately 90-minute physiological cycles that affect our focus, attention, and other processes throughout the day and night”.To really get the most out of focus mode, he too recommends spending time working or learning in 90-minute cycles as “this duration aligns with the natural cycle of our brain’s capacity for concentration”.And after 90 minutes of deep focused work, it’s time to take a break. But for how long?Dr Sydney Ceruto, founder of MindLAB Neuroscience, told Bustle the brain “isn’t wired for 8-hour focus sprints” and is instead “wired for 90-minute cycles of high activation followed by 20-minute recovery”.Well, now we know!Related...I Tried The Pomodoro Technique To Get Over My Work Slump – I ve Never Been More Focused11 WFH Workers Get Real About Whether They Take The P*ss I Tried Movement Snacking At Work, And My Back Has Never Felt Better

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