Ever had those days when you didn’t feel motivated at all? You know you’ve got a ton of stuff to do but you just can’t get yourself started.
You know it’s only going to get worse if you procrastinate but you just couldn’t be bothered. It’s too overwhelming to even think about that mountain of tasks – let alone actually do them!
The solution?
Use the Pomodoro Technique to break your work up into 25 minute increments.
Essentially this is about turning your mountain into several molehills and then working on one molehill for 25 minutes.
That’s it.
It’s really that simple.
Francesco Cirillo developed the Pomodoro approach to time management in the late 1980s.
It focuses not only on 25 minute productive time slots but also on breaks. The idea here is that frequent breaks can improve mental agility.
The key benefits of this technique are:
- It helps to build an ongoing rhythm of work and rest. This minimises the likelihood of burnout and maximises your productivity
- It helps to effectively manage internal or external interruptions given the short 25 minute burst of effort followed by the 3-5 minute break
There are five steps to implementing the technique:
- Decide on which task you wish to complete
- Set a timer for 25 minutes
- Immerse yourself in the task for those 25 minutes till the timer rings
- Take a short break (3-5 minutes) – this is an essential part of the technique and is as important as the 25 minute task immersion step
- Every four Pomodoro’s you take a break for 15-30 minutes
There are many Pomodoro timers available for the iPhone. Here’s a simple and FREE Pomodoro timer available at the iTunes Store
Combine this Promodoro technique with my approach outlined in my post on How I created targeted to do lists in 3 steps and you’ve just turbo charged your day!
