Does this task require us to go deep? Or does it require consistent commitment? Or perhaps, both?
Most meaningful things we do likely require us to block off a large chunk of time and go deep. Perhaps we are creating a new business plan, or planning an event, or maybe even writing a book.
Trying to tackle these types of things in 15-30 minute increments doesn’t work. It’s difficult to find ourselves deep enough to be effective. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take small measured breaks (like outlined in the Pomidoro method). What I’m saying is we should block off a large chunk of our day to dedicate only to that one thing.
On the other hand there are things that require consistent commitment in smaller chunks. Learning a language would be my favourite example. It’s far better to spend 30 minutes everyday as opposed to 3.5 hours every Saturday. In the later example we experience a diminishing return very quickly and maybe only 30-45 minutes of the 3.5 hours remains useful. Our brains simply aren’t set up for this type of ‘marathon’.
Or maybe it’s both. An example would be writing a business plan. The initial draft should condensed and completed in large chunk(s) of time. After that initial phase you might be able to get away with editing small pieces in 15-30 minute increments.