You could call it the tamest of mid-life crises, but as I turned 40 last year, I decided to devote myself to a long-neglected ambition \u2013 learning the guitar. I dutifully set myself the task of practising for 30 minutes a day, with the aim of strumming my way through the Bob Dylan songbook by my 41st birthday.<\/p>\n
What stood in the way, of course, was life. With work and family commitments, I was lucky to find a free half-hour time more than once or twice a week. Each day that went by without practice left me feeling more demotivated, and the guitar soon started gathering dust next to my piano.<\/p>\n
Then I came across the idea of productivity snacking: splitting goals into bite-size chunks that we slot in between our other responsibilities. Looking into the research, I found that we can achieve far more in even tiny bouts of activity than we might imagine. Most importantly, those small wins can do wonders for our motivation, making us more likely to achieve our goals than if we had set tougher targets.<\/p>\n
My first source of inspiration came from the world of physical fitness. The World Health Organisation advises that we do at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise<\/a>, a week. Yet many people struggle to meet this threshold. Some research even suggests that the mere existence of such an ambitious goal<\/a> is actively discouraging. Put simply, they feel that if they cannot reach the recommended dose, they might as well not bother at all.<\/p>\n As a result, sports scientists started to consider ways of making fitness regimes more approachable by breaking them down into very short bursts of physical activity<\/a>, lasting just a few minutes each \u2013 a practice that is sometimes known as \u201cexercise snacking\u201d. If you\u2019re working from home, you might do a few press-ups after an hour of sitting at your desk, for instance; in the evening, you might jog on the spot during the ad break while you watch TV.<\/p>\n The results can be impressive. A recent review<\/a> of the literature concludes that these very short bouts of exercise can improve a range of health outcomes, including peak oxygen uptake, resting blood pressure, and insulin levels. There\u2019s even new evidence that exercise snacking can enhance cognitive function and mental health. Crucially, these interventions have extremely low dropout rates, of just 12% \u2013 with the vast majority of people in each study continuing until the very end. That\u2019s impressive compared with other fitness programmes, which typically see more than a third of participants falling off the wagon.<\/p>\n There are many reasons why breaking things down like this works. In terms of sheer practicality,<\/a> it\u2019s easier to fit short exercises into the \u201cbetween times\u201d of the day rather than carving out a full hour. But there are also motivational benefits<\/a>. Reams of research have shown that the mere act of dividing things into smaller chunks can help make an activity less daunting, so that we\u2019re less likely to procrastinate. If you\u2019re not already physically fit, the thought of a 30-minute jog or an hour-long aerobics class feels exhausting, whereas a few minutes of star jumps seems a lot more manageable \u2013 making us more likely to try them out.<\/p>\n Finally, there\u2019s the \u201cprogress principle<\/a>\u201d. Each small win enhances our self-efficacy \u2013 our belief in our capacity to enact personal change. By giving ourselves more easily achievable targets, we experience that confidence boost more often<\/a> \u2013 a pleasant buzz that means we\u2019re more likely to repeat the behaviour.<\/p>\n The principle can be extended to many other spheres of life, including creativity and learning. That might come as a surprise, given the well-known advantages of deep concentration and the apparent dangers of multi\u00adtasking, but a bite-size approach can come with its own cognitive perks. When generating ideas, for instance, the brain may benefit from returning to a problem again and again, since this allows the issue to incubate between brainstorming sessions<\/a>. If you\u2019re a writer experiencing creative block, it might help to return to the draft in short bursts rather than sit in prolonged frustration.<\/p>\n In education, meanwhile, short-and-sweet study sessions could help avoid \u201coverlearning<\/a>\u201d. That\u2019s a risk if you\u2019re lucky enough to make substantial progress in a single sitting \u2013 after that, the benefits may plateau, and further practice does very little to help cement the\u00a0material for the future. This is why psychologists tend to encourage \u201cspaced practice\u201d, consisting of briefer lessons separated by a suitable time interval. The extra effort involved in remembering what you learned at the last session helps your brain consolidate the knowledge.<\/p>\n As I discovered, it was surprisingly easy to apply this approach to the guitar. Over the course of a working day, there were lots of opportunities to pick up my instrument for a few minutes: in between interviews, as a quick morning or afternoon break, or as a small reward for finishing an article. It\u2019s not a replacement for extended sessions; sometimes, I really do need to immerse myself in a piece. But I find that I can make far better use of that time if I\u2019ve kept my skills fresh with bite-size bursts of activity.<\/p>\n Perhaps most importantly, I\u2019ve found that that microdosing my musical goals is a pleasure in its own right. Learning an unfamiliar chord or finger-picking my way through a new melody leaves me more energised than scrolling on social media, which is how I might have otherwise whiled away those odd moments. Whatever other frustrations I\u2019m facing, I can look forward to the sense of achievement that comes from grabbing my guitar and making a little bit of progress. The productivity snacks are a treat in\u00a0themselves.<\/p>\n David Robson is the author of The Laws of Connection (Canongate). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com<\/a>. Delivery charges may apply.<\/p>\n Further reading<\/p>\n Hyperefficient: Optimise your Brain and Transform the Way You Work<\/a> by Mithu Storoni (Yellow Kite, \u00a316.99)<\/p>\n