Want to boost your productivity? Try scheduling a 'Scary Hour'

INCREASING productivity is something many workers strive for, but this goal is not always easy to achieve. That's why some have started scheduling a 'scary hour' into their working day as a means to boost efficiency.

Workers have long known that it's essential to prioritise the tasks they have to perform at work, so as not to get overwhelmed. But that's not always easy to do. Many wonder which factors to take into account: the urgency (or otherwise) of an assignment, or its importance? Then there's the degree of drudgery involved. Indeed, we tend to put off until tomorrow the tasks we find most difficult and unpleasant. Even if that ultimately increases stress levels as deadlines approach. 

This is where the 'scary hour' comes in. This organisational trick encourages us to set aside a block of time for tasks we don't like to do, and focus solely on those tasks until the time runs out. This supposedly encourages us to stop indulging in procrastination – an affliction affecting 15-20% of adults, according to Canadian psychologist Piers Steel. 

This work method was made popular on TikTok, through a video by user @classicclaur. In it, she explains that she devotes an hour a day to tasks she usually balks at due to her anxiety. "'Scary hour' is the only reason anyone in my life thinks that I’m a functioning adult," she explains in the video, which has been viewed over 1.1 million times on the social network. It has since inspired others: the hashtag #scaryhour now counts 6.5 million views on TikTok.

Splitting up time into more manageable chunks

The principle of the 'Scary Hour' is reminiscent of the 'pomodoro' technique. The latter also involves assigning time slots to the most thankless and tedious tasks, such as sifting through emails. Many employees feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of emails they receive and have to answer.

Some employees devote 8.8 hours a day to this activity, according to figures from Microsoft. The American IT giant has found that workers spend an average of 57% of their time using office software dedicated to communication (email, instant messaging, videoconferencing, etc.).

But these same tools nevertheless contribute to our natural tendency to procrastinate and can have a negative impact on our efficiency. Hence, the importance of splitting up the working day to regain control over your to-do list, according to advocates of 'Scary Hour' or the 'pomodoro' method.

The rise of these organisational methods shows just how sensitive a subject time management has become in a world of work, with ever-increasing productivity demands. In fact, nearly one in two workers says they feel burnt out at work, according to a Microsoft survey. – ETX Daily Up, May 30, 2023