As a long-time Mac addict I am a fan of 52 Tiger, not only for the technical info I glean from the posts, but for the humanist approach of the author, I had to laugh out loud when I read in his article, Pomodoro and Omnifocus, “Anyone who knows me realizes that I have a significant problem with concentrating on anything. As in medically significant.” Hmm, doesn’t that sound familiar.
The article was about the Pomodoro Technique, which basically uses bursts of activity with small rests between. Curious, as I was thinking about this the other day in relation to what I call the Carnivore Mind. As I learn more about ADHD and what it means to have this kind of brain I do my best to observe my own behavior and that of others, especially when it comes to getting things done.
Herbivores (why don’t we call them vegetarians in the animal kingdom?) are pretty much foraging for food most of the time. Slow and steady, grazing here, move on to another more fertile area.
Carnivores, on the other hand, have much more concentrated bursts of food gathering. The hunt, the kill, then usually a long period of rest to digest what they have just eaten.
As someone with a very active, though sometimes chaotic mind, I can relate to that. There are times when I have strong bursts of mental activity and sometimes amaze myself at what gets accomplished, the ideas that spew forth, and the clarity of vision that ensues. But these periods are not sustainable for me. I’ve learned that in planning how I use my time that I don’t schedule multiple periods of sustained high-level mental activity back-to-back. Processing time is required to digest the most recent mental “kill”.
So I’ve downloaded the free book on the Pomodoro Technique, which advocates small bursts on concentrated activity interspersed with rest. Their recommendations are for 25-minute work sessions followed by five-minute breaks, and then a longer break after four sessions. I’ll play around with that and report back.
Do you have a Carnivore Mind?
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Love this, Bert. For me, it’s not so much which mind I have (for in real life, as well as in mind, I am an omnivore), as it is the thinking behind it …. which is beautiful. Thank you. Brad