Why I’m able to Code 4 Hours with NO breaks (how to stay focused & productive)

I have figured out a way to complete all of my daily coding tasks in just 4 hours with no breaks and I believe you can do it too. Now that really only leaves you with two questions. How and why? How are you able to complete everything and why don't you take any breaks? I mean after all, so many people are told you need to work in small chunks and take breaks in between like the Pomodoro Technique, 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off. It just doesn't work for coding. Think about it. You look at a line of code, think about it for a second, and translate it to plain English. And then you figure out what that code actually does, how it relates to the rest of the code, what that other code does. You're making all of this progress, then oh, time to take my break. You take a stroll around the block, maybe get a cup of coffee, then get back to work. Except now, your entire train of thought is lost and you have to start back at square one. So tell me again how this is supposed to increase my productivity when it's designed to break my focus every 25 minutes? It just doesn't work for me. And I'd like to think it doesn't work for most programmers. So what does? The answer is simple. Oh, you want to code for 4 hours straight? Okay, well then just sit down and start coding. But as simple as it seems, it's just not that easy. I mean, you have the ultimate distraction right in front of your face, the computer, with endless amounts of content to consume and distractions to be had. But I've formulated a way that allows me to maximize my efficiency in that 4 hour ultra high focus phase that I'd like to share with you. It isn't foolproof. There are some days where you just feel like you can't get anything done. But it's what works best for me and why I'm able to code for 4 hours with no breaks. Unless I really gotta pee. But none of this happens without my coffee. My Cometeer flash frozen at peak flavor delivered straight to your doorstep each month coffee. As someone who primarily drinks their coffee black, the flavor of the actual coffee is most important. I make mine by running the capsule under hot water to loosen the frozen puck, drop it into my cup, pour in my hot water that melts the puck, and enjoy the best cup of coffee I've ever had. It's smooth, delicious, and I can actually taste the notes of chocolate and berry, which is typically hard for me to do in traditional coffees. I've been taking this on our beach days and on our boat days. I just put the capsule in the cooler, and once it melts, I pour it over my ice water. I don't tell, but sometimes instead of water, I'll pour it over ice milk to make myself a latte. If you haven't tried it, it's really good. It's subscription based, so you sign up once, pick your roast preference and delivery frequency, and they'll ship customized boxes to your doorstep. So if you've been wanting to try Cometeer, now is the time. For a limited time, you can get $40 off across your first two orders when you use my code Farsk40 at Cometeer.com using the link at the top of the description. I appreciate Cometeer for sponsoring today's video. Now back to it. So what is this four hour, ultra high focus phase of the day I'm talking about? It's a four hour block of consistent work. No distractions, no breaks, no lollygagging. So you can get all of your most important work done as efficiently and quickly as possible. And it starts yesterday. Stand-up meetings have it all wrong. You're telling me the first thing in the morning, every morning, I'm to tell you this is what I did yesterday. This is what I'm going to do today. And here are the problems I'm facing. Horrible idea. Why would you waste your valuable cognitive resources first thing in the morning with something so trivial? Instead, do it at the end of yesterday. That's where this starts. Plan your work yesterday. Or, you know, plan your work for tomorrow, today. You get what I'm saying. What do I need to do tomorrow? List them out. Choose one or two as the highest priority and you want to schedule those in your most optimal timeframe. For me, that's in the morning when my brain is fresh. I have used no cognitive resources on mundane tasks like emails or meetings. The most intensive work I've done is poured myself a cup of coffee. So most of the time, this four-hour, no-break window occurs anywhere between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., depending on when I wake up. But this isn't set in stone. Don't let perfection be the enemy of progress. There are many days where that window won't be until after lunch, somewhere between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. But how does one stay focused for four hours straight? This is the bread and butter. And first and foremost, it's easier when you're doing something you enjoy. Groundbreaking. I know. But there's only so much you can force yourself to do if you dislike it. And I mean really dislike it, not just dislike the idea of it. Because oftentimes, when we think of a task, think of something that we need to do and we don't want to do it. That doesn't mean you dislike it, it means you dislike the idea of it. That's why it's advised to just start off with a 5, 10, 15 minute task or something little to begin with if you're procrastinating or need to find motivation. And then you find yourself an hour or two later and you're just still working. It's because you may like the work, the idea of it is what you don't. Force yourself to start and then just let yourself flow. That's the entire goal and solution as to how. Enter into that flow state and don't let anything take you out of it. That's why I call it the 4 hour ultra high focus phase of the day. There can be no distractions, no phone, no text, no notifications, no emails and no slack. So set your status as busy coding until noon so nobody bothers you. And if I must say, as someone who has two monitors right in front of them, only use one monitor. But Forrest, I need four monitors for maximum productivity. I have this open over here, the docks open over here, my project management software over here, my ID over here, what I'm working on over here. That's not what I mean. What I mean is that a lot of individuals, if you're like me, tend to have your work monitor and then have your leisure monitor. You put on a YouTube video, maybe this YouTube video, you put on a stream, you maybe have Reddit or Twitter open on that second monitor because you just need something going on in the background. But that is a potential distraction. You cannot multitask. Not in this phase. I'll say it again. This is your 4 hour ultra high focus phase. The reason being is because the next 4 hours of work, given you work an 8 hour workday, you have meetings, you have emails, you have whatever other mundane tasks that you have to do. That is when you can multitask. That is when you can watch a video or a stream or browse Reddit while doing the other things that you have to do for work. I'm not pitching a 4 hour workday. I'm pitching a 4 hour ultra high focus phase. I guess I've kind of coined that at this point, I just typed it a bunch. Nothing should be going on except you coding, that's it. But I do have to admit something. This method doesn't actually work. Not by itself at least. Uh huh. Got you there for a second. You're asking your brain to work with ultra high focus, doing a cognitively taxing task for 4 hours straight. Because you're demanding yourself to have a healthy mind, it doesn't work unless you have a healthy body. So drink enough water, take your vitamins, especially your B12 if you want enough energy to stay focused because almost every cell in your body uses B12 and a B12 deficiency causes tiredness. But only take this after eating, only take this in the morning, but also don't listen to me because I'm not a health professional. And exercise, preferably outside so you can get some sun on your face. Trust me, that helps. But also don't trust me because I'm not a health professional. But also doctors are considered health professionals and half of them don't know what the hell they're talking about. Anyway, all of these things are why I'm able to code for 4 hours with no breaks. So if you haven't found something that's able to maximize efficiency and stay focused for yourself, I'd love for you to try this. The way that is never talked about because everyone thinks you should be taking a break every 30 minutes. Try it out, see if it works for you. Let me know in the comments if you do plan to try it out and then come back later with your results, good and bad. Because this isn't a one-size-fits-all approach, nothing is. Maybe try 3-hour blocks instead of 4-hour blocks. Maybe try it in the evening instead of in the morning like me. And never, never focus so heavily on the deadlines and time frame. Oh, I gotta finish all of this in 4 hours? No. Don't worry about all of that. Just get in the flow state, have an understanding of what you have to do, and roll. If you have a friend that you think would find this video to be helpful, there is a share button right below this video. There's also a like button right over there as well as a subscribe button and then a notification bell if you're already subscribed, which, by the way, I don't upload that much anyway so it's not like I'm going to be bombarding your notifications. But until the next notification, have a good one.