Okay, so I wanted to share something I’ve been trying out lately. It’s about how I structure some parts of my day, especially when I feel like I’m getting pulled in too many directions. I just started calling it my “5 25 25” routine, mainly because of the timing I used.
How It Started
Things felt messy. You know those days? Too much to do, not enough focus. I’d sit down, try to work, then check emails, then remember something else, then get sidetracked. Pretty useless, honestly. I needed a simple way to just force myself to start and make some actual progress on things that mattered. I didn’t read this anywhere specific, just mashed together some ideas I’d heard about time blocking and decided to give it a shot with these numbers.
The Actual Process: My Morning Attempt
So, here’s what I did this morning, step-by-step:
- The First 5: I got my coffee, sat down. Instead of diving into the chaos, I set a timer for just 5 minutes. Seriously, only five. In that time, I looked at my big messy list and picked just two things. The two most important things I needed to push forward in the next hour. I wrote them down on a sticky note. Nothing else. Just those two. Timer went off. Done planning.
- The First 25: I immediately set that timer again, this time for 25 minutes. I picked the first task on my sticky note. And for those 25 minutes, that’s all I did. No phone checking, no email peeking, no getting up for a random snack. Just head down, focused on that one thing. It felt a bit forced at first, like I should be multitasking. But I stuck with it. When the timer buzzed, I stopped. Even if I was mid-sentence.
- The Second 25: Right after the first timer went off, I reset it again for another 25 minutes. I looked at the second task on my sticky note. Same deal: total focus on just that task. Pushed everything else out of my mind. It was tough, especially when other thoughts popped up, but having the timer running helped. It felt like a mini-deadline. Timer rings again. Stop.
What Happened Next?
And that was it. 5 minutes of planning, then two focused blocks of 25 minutes. Just under an hour total. Did I finish those big tasks? Nope. Not even close on one of them. But here’s the thing: I actually did something significant on both. I made real, solid progress. Way more than I would have if I’d just tried to vaguely “work” for an hour.
It felt good. Like I’d won the first battle of the day. Breaking things down into these little timed chunks made it feel less overwhelming. The 5 minutes of planning forced me to prioritize, which is something I struggle with.
Is it perfect? Nah. Sometimes I get interrupted. Sometimes I pick the wrong tasks in my 5 minutes. Sometimes I really want to keep going when the 25-minute timer rings. But I try to stick to it. Stopping forces me to take a tiny mental break before switching, which seems to help.
I’ve been doing this mostly in the mornings to kickstart things, or sometimes in the afternoon when I feel my energy dipping. It’s simple, doesn’t need fancy tools (just a timer), and for me, it’s been a practical way to just get stuff done. Maybe it’s something you could try if you’re feeling stuck like I was. Just a simple structure I’ve found helpful.