My Greatest Productivity Tool Was an Old Casio Watch
Understanding time is essential for finishing things
The first watch I ever wore was a Casio F91W-1. The cheapest kind — black plastic. Despite its lack of frills, it was the greatest productivity tool I ever used.
The watch is a simple item: You can set alarms, timers, and most importantly, you can set a little beep to go off every hour. That alone did wonders for my understanding of time—I was able to set deadlines for myself and create work-life boundaries.
With every beep, my attention was drawn to the current time. I noticed how fast I could write a certain amount of pages, how fast I could solve a problem, or what kind of work I could get done in an hour. I also noticed what activities and tasks changed my perception of time—some tasks made every minute feel like thick syrup, while others made the day go by in a blink. This was very useful for planning: I learned that saving the most stimulating things for last helped me optimize my work rhythm.
I’ve since switched out the classic Casio watch for a Fitbit, but I’ve continued to set alarms. Instead of beeping on the hour, the Fitbit has a setting to notify me when it’s 10 minutes to the hour: For example, at 11:50 am, 12:50 pm, and so forth.
The gentle buzz alerting me it’s 10 minutes to the next hour works just as well, if not even better. The sense of immediate urgency it creates is good for my brain; even if I’m not working on an actual deadline, the 10 minutes to go until the hour creates an imaginary one that forces me to speed up whatever it is I’m doing. This keeps me on track, leaving me with more time to enjoy the rest of my day.
