Jan 19, 2012
Most productivity software falls either in the to-do list or timer category, and often they are tied to a particular methodology such as Getting Things Done (GTD) or the Pomodoro Technique. This is of course very useful when either you are knowledgeable about the methodology and, most importantly, when the methodology fits precisely into your workflow. Another important issue that comes up with a lot of tools that rigidly follow a methodology is that while it’s easy to read about a time management technique and learn all about it, it is an entirely different thing to put it in practice. For that, you need to develop skills, and if your tool is not flexible enough you have no alternative but to jump in at the deep end.
In comes Vitamin-R. It is not a to-do list, and it’s also much more than a timer. For starters, and this is the only time I’ve ever said this about any piece of software, read the manual. It is a really valuable lesson in how our brain works and what you can do to get it to work more efficiently.
A central concept in Vitamin-R is the concept of a “time slice”, which will be very familiar to users or the Pomodoro Technique. Much like Francesco Cirillo‘s pomodoros, a time slice is a block of time during which you need to be totally focused on the task at hand, avoiding distractions at all costs. Time slices can be configured to have different durations, and the recommendation is that you can go up to 45 minutes, differing from the Pomodoro Technique which says you should stop at 25 minutes. Vitamin-R also recommends that after each time slice you take a timed break, but you can also vary its duration. All the reasoning behind these choices is beautifully explained in the application’s manual.
Vitamin-R's excellent timer
Another interesting concept presented by the tool is that you should have a clear objective for the work you’re performing, so at the start and end of each time slice you are shown what your objective is. There is also a notepad of sorts where you can take notes about anything you need to take off your short-term memory, and also so that you can more easily pick up where you left when you come back for your next time slice.
At the end of each time slice, you are asked to record whether the time slice was a success or not, if your overall objective was completed, and also how you felt during the time slice: if you were distracted, if you experienced “flow”, and a few other perceptions in between. This is one of the nicest touches in the tool, because it generates what to me is the most benefical feature: a rich statistics graph, which shows you not only a log of how you worked that day and how much of your work was focused or distracted, but also during which times of the day you are most focused and during which days of the week you work better. For instance, after a week using the tool daily, I was able to learn that I work better between 8 and 10 a.m. (which I already suspected), that early afternoons suck (which I also suspected), and that mondays are great days and fridays are lousy (which I had no clue). This information allows you to organize your day and week so that your most crucial work is performed during those periods where you work better.
My statistics for time of the day - yes, afternoons suck.
I cannot reinforce enough how much Vitamin-R is helping me work. It teaches you in practice how to be more productive and allows you to develop at your own pace the workflow that fits your method of work. It is expensive for App Store levels (US$19.99), but it is more than worth it for the level of productivity you will gain after only one week using it. I would try to imporve a little bit on the design of the app which, while functional, is not beautiful, and I would add integration with Wunderlist to make me 110% happy with it. But I would definitely recommend the app to anyone interested in getting more done with their time. Plus, it has a killer slogan: “Practice the art of deliberate attention”. Cool eh?
Do you apply any specific time management techniques regularly? Do they fit into your workflow “out of the box” or have you adapted it to your working style?
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