I have a thing for hamsters.
If you ask me where it came from, I couldn’t tell you.
Naturally, I had a bit of hamster research to do yesterday.
For a product of mine (of course!)
In the process I watched a video someone made that demonstrated the sounds hamsters made.
Cute factor five! All… squeeky, chirpy, and clicky.
And I stand in awe of their lighting reflexes… as they darted behind thier house when someone startled them.
Awww!
But as I was enthralled…
I didn’t notice the sun fading as it waved it’s “bye bye” for the day.
A reminder that even legit research can suffer from becoming a distraction. If left unchecked.
(My hamster research IS legit, dammit!)
Which is why I like one of the strategies some of the old-school copywriters used. Which is working in 30-or-so minute chunks. Then taking a break.
Then repeat multiple times. And this way could keep up their focus for hours on end.
The pomodoro approach is similar.
Setting a timer for doing research ain’t a bad idea.
Because everything has a tendency to expand to fill the time available.
But giving hamster-gazing some boundaries. Means the research can get done AND the other work I needed to do.