The method
Choose one important Commitment. Protect time to finish it. Then step away before the next Sprint.
Why I created it
For 28 years, I worked with capable people who cared about their work. Ambition was not the problem. Their best attention kept disappearing into interruptions, unclear priorities, and the pressure to work at the same intensity all day.
I created the Ultradian Method© to make the pattern usable. Choose one important Commitment. Protect time to do it. Recover before the next Sprint. Then repeat.
My own experience with long-term recovery taught me that lasting change rarely comes from one dramatic breakthrough. It comes from daily practice, honest accountability, and beginning again tomorrow. One day at a time became one sprint at a time.
The goal is not to turn you into a machine. It is to help you work like a human being again.
Peter Moulton, creator of the Ultradian Method©
The science, in plain English
You do not need a neuroscience degree to use this. Research describes cycles in alertness and the limits of sustained mental effort. The Method turns that pattern into a decision you can make today. Work for a defined period, stop, and recover.
01 / Focus comes in waves
Researchers use the word ultradian for natural cycles that happen more than once a day. One well-known example is a roughly 90-minute rise and fall in alertness. The Method gives that wave a simple shape you can use.
02 / Recovery matters
Mental effort becomes harder to sustain as the day goes on. Chemicals involved in sleep pressure, including adenosine, are part of that picture. You do not need to study the chemistry. You only need to notice when your attention fades and step away before forcing more work.
03 / Choices use attention
Repeated choices can make later decisions harder. A pre-shaped day removes some of that friction. Instead of rebuilding your schedule every hour, you choose the one Commitment that deserves your next sprint and begin.
04 / Deep work has limits
Studies of expert practice suggest that people can sustain only a few hours of truly demanding work each day. The Method protects those hours for work that needs your best thinking, then makes room for routine work, recovery, and life outside work.
The rhythm
One sprint gives you 75 minutes to settle in and make meaningful progress, followed by 15 minutes away from the work. Then you decide whether you have the capacity for another.
Put work that needs judgment, creativity, or courage in your stronger hours. Save email and routine operations for later, when your attention naturally has less to give.
Read the science →One cycle
75 minutes of execution, then 15 minutes fully unplugged.
More than a timer
The 75/15 rhythm gives the day its shape. The rest of the Method connects an objective to a concrete Commitment, a focused Sprint, honest accountability, and a Result you can see.
Decide what deserves your attention before the Sprint begins. One clear outcome is easier to start and easier to finish than a crowded list.
Focus for 75 minutes. Step away for 15. The break is not a reward for working hard; it is what helps make the next focused block possible.
Daily sprints support a short planning cycle, so the work you finish today moves an objective forward instead of simply keeping you busy.
Quiet company and honest accountability make your Commitments visible. You can see what happened, learn from it, and choose the next step.
Start with one sprint. Build the rhythm gradually. Progress comes from returning to the practice consistently, not from running a flawless schedule on day one.
A day with room to think
This is a full-day example, not a test you have to pass. Start with one protected sprint. As your attention changes, later sprints become shorter and more practical. Each work block ends with recovery, with lunch in the middle.
6 hours focused work
90 minutes recovery
8 AM → 4 PM a complete workday
Recovery
Step away for 15 minutes. Move, get water, or go outside. Keep the phone away too. One screen is not much of a break from another.
Accountability
Choose your next Commitment and work beside people in a quiet room. When the Sprint ends, record what you finished. Your Results give the coach something real to use when you choose what comes next.
See how the loop works →Built for real life
UpSprint.io puts the Method into practice. Choose one Commitment, finish a focused Sprint, recover, and record the Result you can build on tomorrow.
You do not have to change your whole life today. Protect the next sprint and begin there.
Use the free week to find out whether quiet company helps you start and finish.
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