Boost productivity with checkpoints

How regular “checkpoints” throughout the day help to achieve greater focus and clarity.

This blog is (not only) dedicated to the perfectionists among us: Do you know that feeling that creeps up on you at the end of the working day that you have somehow wasted time? Did you spend too long writing an email (something that wasn’t that important)? Spent too long researching topic XY on the internet (even though it was already clear by source C that you wouldn’t find anything more relevant)? Spent too long on the look & feel of the PPT (the famous unnecessary gold border…)? And that’s why the really important things still need to be done… Again. One way to tackle the issue is… …to consciously build in “reflection checkpoints” throughout the day. This means defining individual times that you can be reminded of by a timer/calendar/smartwatch and when you can take a quick moment to reflect on what you are doing. In principle, thinking about the exact same things that you do in the evening anyway (as mentioned above), except that you can still make changes and take countermeasures during the day. There are two known methods for this:

• Peter Bregman advises the 18-minute rule: take 5 minutes in the morning to get in the mood for the day and 5 minutes at the end of the day to reflect. And one minute every hour throughout the day for what I call a “reflection checkpoint”. With 8 checkpoints you will then have a total of 18 minutes (book recommendation see below)
• The Pomodoro technique (by Francesco Cirillo) also helps with focusing. Before you start a task, think carefully about what you want to focus on and, ideally, what the end result should be. Then set a timer for 25 minutes and work without interruption or distraction until the time is up – followed by a 5-minute break. You can do this from time to time, or structure your entire (working) day in this way – at least the times when you work in a self-determined way (see book recommendation below).
• Or you can combine the above-mentioned methods and adapt them to suit yourself and be helpful in your everyday (working) life.

For me personally, it looks like this: I use an (old-school) Casio watch (see below for inspiration) that beeps every hour. That’s enough for me to trigger my hourly reflection checkpoint (but only in my home office, don’t annoy anyone in the office!). This has greatly improved my focus on what’s important and as a result my productivity. And when there’s a lot to do and my mind is constantly jumping from to-do to to-do to remind me of everything important, a few Pomodoro sprints help me: I set my “time timer” (see below for inspiration) to 25 minutes. The knowledge that I am now devoting “only” 25 minutes to a particular task calms my brain and allows me to work in peace. But you can get a lot done in “just” 25 minutes with focused work! If you would like to find a method that suits your needs and your very specific everyday life, please contact me for a 👉 free and non-binding introductory meeting 👈.