Pomodoro Technique for Productivity

alcibiades (70)in #learning • 8 years ago

Did it ever occur to you to dedicate a whole day to work on a project or study some important topic and it turns out to be something like this:

1:45 pm - Just to check what's new on Steemit
1:57 pm - I'm really hungry all the sudden. I'll grab a bite quickly
2:27 pm - I don't feel like starting right now, better wait for 3 pm, then I'll be full of energy. Just enough time to watch new Survivor episode
4:08 pm - Oh, man, how could I know they made it a special 2-hour episode. I'll go for a short walk to clear my head
6:38 pm - Tomorrow I'm studying all day!

It happens to all of us. Our mind starts to wander, phone notification pops up, a friends calls us to chit-chat. The main problem in most cases is that we haven't organized a planned schedule or we sliced it into chunks that are too big and we don't have enough concentration to focus throughout.

There's so many daily obligations, you might feel like you need the day to last for 30 hours, so you can catch up. Sometimes even the extra labor is not enough, and it makes us more stressful and less productive.

Your problems may come to an end if you learn to apply Pomodoro technique.

What is a Pomodoro technique

Pomodoro (tomato in Italian) is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. His goal was to improve concentration by focusing on the task at hand and get rid of stalling. Asking yourself what does it have to do with tomatoes? Tomato-shaped time management alarm was responsible for the early practice of this technique. And besides pencil and paper, that's the only thing you'll need to try out this method. No, it does not have to be shaped like a tomato. Simple alarm or a timer app will do the trick.

Pomodoro technique will help you:

get better insight about how much time you need to complete certain tasks
stay concentrated longer on a single task
work on tasks in a clearly defined time intervals
reduce the number of breaks you consciously or unconsciously make that distract you
eliminate burnout
create a better work/life balance

How it works

In one moment you're only focused on completing ONE task. Instead of multitasking, concentrate on finishing what you're currently working on before moving on to the next.

To implement pomodoro in your everyday routine you're gonna have to create and keep track of three lists.

List of goals is the one where you'll write everything you want to accomplish in the next week or month. See what time span works better for you. So on this list you write more long term goals. For example, your goal might be to write a Steemit article every day for the next month. Put it on the list. If you want to try out the technique today, without weekly or monthly commitment, then skip to the next step.

Create a list of activities and tasks you want to accomplish that day. Everything you do will be broken into 25 minute chunks, with 5 to 7 minute breaks in between. This one 25 minute period is called Pomodoro. If the tasks are too big, you'll complete them in couple of pomodoros. If there's couple of small activities, group them in one pomodoro. Pomodoro can't be extended and there is no half pomodoro. If it happens that your alarm is buzzing and you need five or so more minutes to finish something, stop what you're working anyway. Take a break and do something unrelated. Go for a short walk, check your messages, talk to a friend. If you have time left in the current Pomodoro after finishing the task, use it to review the stuff you've been working on.

Let's say you want to write a new Steemit blog post. Your potential pomodoro schedule may look like this:

25 min - Read some additional materials on the topic you want to write about (1 pomodoro)
5 min break
25 min - Write a compelling introduction and headline (1 pomodoro)
5 min break
25 min - Elaborate the main point in detail (1 pomodoro)
5 min break
25 min - Finish up if there's something left. Include images and add copyright info. (1 pomodoro)

After every 4 pomodoros take a 30 minutes or longer break. For the time management purpose I use focus booster computer app, which works on a pomodoro principle and it gives you options to choose time chunks that suit you best and to track progress and previous sessions.

Track your progress

Whenever you get distracted either unconsciously (maybe you turn on livescore to see how your time is doing) or someone calls you to talk about the latest events, you have to start that pomodoro from the beginning.
Track your progress every day. See how much pomodoros does it take to complete a certain task. Write down every distraction that stop you from completing the 25-minute milestone. Notice if some patterns and common interruptions happen every day and try to eliminate them. These distractions are the biggest enemy for productivity so learn to control them so you can ensure smooth, focused work for a 25-minute period.

If you find that you have a lot of internal interruptions and some things easily enter your mind and distract you, think about if it's really that important. If it is, don't stop the current pomodoro. Instead, add it to the list of tasks for the day, so you can come back to it later.

If on the other hand, you often get distracted by your friends, coworkers or family who won't let you finish designated tasks, set up some ground rules. You'll dedicate your time to them, but important things come first.

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