Fartleks Can Turbo Charge Your Productivity
A running strategy can make getting more done a little more fun
When I first heard the word, I thought the same thing you’re thinking: What the heck is a fartlek? Turns out it’s a running tactic that, if applied to your daily tasks, could juice your productivity.
Back to the fartleks. A fartlek, a Swedish word that means “speed play,” is a form of unstructured speed work. Runners who experiment with fartleks might sprint for a minute and slow down for four, sprint again for two minutes and jog for two. The idea behind a fartlek is that you play around with your running speed and gauge it to how you feel.
Unlike interval training, fartlek runners don’t have a specified amount of time that they run at a certain speed. Instead, they can vary their speeds, as long as they keep running.
For me, fartleks are a sort of gamification for my running—and my productivity. I challenge myself to sprint as fast as I can to the Starbucks three blocks away or I blow through writing a new article because I’m super passionate about the subject matter.
Tom Craggs writes in Runner’s World that, “Fartlek leaves a lot of control to the runner. You can choose to mix a wide range of paces and lengths for your faster efforts, or head out without a detailed structure and just go by how you feel.”
The idea behind fartleks can be applied to getting things done in your day. If you’re feeling like blowing through some emails, try getting as many as you can out in as short a time as possible. If you’re not quite feeling it right now, perhaps take your time doing something else. As long as you’re still getting things done, you’re making progress in your productivity.
Fartleks and juicing productivity
One of the main reasons fartleks are effective in both running and productivity is that they can help you get used to a higher velocity of getting things done. While you may not be able to run for five minutes at a 10-mile-per-hour speed, you can give your body a little taste of it for one minute. The same works for productivity.
You may not be able to, say, maintain a breakneck speed of slaying a spreadsheet for an hour, but if you challenge yourself to pick up the speed for five minutes, you will realize how fast you can get those numbers into those boxes. And, the next time you put the pedal to the metal, you might be able to do it just a little longer.
Our bodies and minds are exceptional at repetition. When we learn we can do something, we want to do more of it. And speedy work is no different. If you can crank out 1,000 words in 30 minutes, you will want to do it again. And the more your body and mind get used to the new, faster speed, the more endurance (both mental and physical) you will be able to gain.
Short bursts of turbo-speed productivity — fartlek-style — will likely lead to longer and longer bursts. And long-term, they could lead to more focus and getting more done.
Fartleks and endurance
When you challenge yourself to exploring fartleks in running, you train your body to become more efficient. In Runner’s World, Craggs says, “By forcing you to keep running during your ‘recovery’, fartlek sessions put a greater focus on your aerobic system and can help teach your body to become good at reusing lactate as a fuel source.”
Guess what? The same goes for productivity.
One of the key principles behind the fartlek is that, no matter what, you keep running. You might need to slow down the pace, but you keep running. In your daily productivity, the temptation, after accomplishing any difficult task (particularly at a heightened pace) is to switch off your brain, scroll Instagram, and “take a break.”
Fartleks teach us that recovery can happen while we are still being productive. If you try to juice your productivity with a burst of speedy work, you can recover from that exertion while still being productive. And, you’ll get more done if you keep moving.
I like to try speedy bursts of article writing (I’m 19 minutes in to this one and hoping to complete it in 30). But, when I’m done with a burst of productivity, I like to slow down the pace and do some editing or reading.
I will pull up an article from a friend and make some notes or I will check out an article on the latest mindfulness research. This keeps my mental engine running while also giving me time to reset for another flow session later. If I shut it all down, grab some lunch, and turn on the Real Housewives of Orange County, I’m down for the count for a good 45 minutes. And that does not help my productivity at all.
Fartleks, productivity, and honoring your body
Two of the main principles behind the fartlek method of running are listening to your body and having fun. When you’re not feeling like sprinting, you don’t have to. When you are feeling playful and energetic, you can use that energy to sprint.
Most of us don’t realize how intelligent our bodies are. And, unfortunately, we often don’t listen to them as much as we should. Productivity, at the expense of either our mental or physical health, is not sustainable.
The hustle culture has left in its wake an army of sad, burnt out people who are disenchanted with the world. No one has to become one of these people. No matter who you are, if you push yourself too much, you will not only slow your productivity, you will also probably hinder your progress toward your goal.
We get excited about getting things done, but when we push too hard, we need to stop and rest. Remember — the idea behind the fartlek is to keep on plugging. “If you find yourself needing to stop or walk between your faster efforts when doing fartlek sessions, you’re probably doing them too hard. Ease off and make your primary focus still being able run on your ‘recovery’,” says Craggs.
The same goes for whatever you’re doing. Listening to your body and your mind should be your top priority. And, if you take the time to recover when you need to rest, you will likely be more prepared for an exceptionally productive session in the future.
Here’s what I think
Planning for productivity is important, but it’s also invigorating to have fun with your day. Fartleks provide a sort of gamification that can help you get more done and have fun while you do it. Juice up your productivity when you’re rested and inspired. Slow down your pace when you’re overworked and not-so-imaginative. And, no matter what, make sure to listen to and heed the important signals from your body and your mind.
Here are two free links to my favorite articles from this week:
6 Ways to Gamify Your Tasks and Get More Done
Get Yourself Off on Productivity Porn
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I want to know - how do you make getting more done a little more fun? Leave a comment and I’ll test out your productivity strategy! (And I’ll probably write about it!)
Have a pragmatically productive week!
Love,
Michelle