How a Strategy I’ve Learned as a Runner Has Boosted My Productivity
It makes getting things done a little more fun
When I first heard the word, I thought the same thing you’re thinking: What the heck is a fartlek? Turns out it’s a running tactic that, if applied to your daily tasks, could juice your productivity.
A fartlek, a Swedish word that means “speed play,” is a form of unstructured speed work. Runners who experiment with fartleks might sprint for a minute and slow down for four, sprint again for two minutes and jog for two. The idea behind a fartlek is that you play around with your running speed and gauge it to how you feel.
Unlike interval training, fartlek runners don’t have a specified amount of time that they run at a certain speed. Instead, they can vary their speeds, as long as they keep running.
For me, fartleks are a sort of gamification for my running—and my productivity. I challenge myself to sprint as fast as I can to the Starbucks three blocks away or I blow through writing a new article because I’m super passionate about the subject matter.
Tom Craggs writes in Runner’s World that, “Fartlek leaves a lot of control to the runner. You can choose to mix a wide range of paces and lengths for your faster efforts, or head out without a detailed…
