Time Management- The Tomato Timer
I have struggled with procrastination and general idleness. If left to my own devices I am perfectly content staring off into space and letting my mind wander, not to mention when I have a phone in my hand and think it might be a good idea to see what old acquaintances are up to. Well, that is, until I remember what it is I should be doing and realize how much time is now gone. I really don’t care for the super time-management and “productivity” culture that seems to be in every nook you look these days. Occasionally I get the sense that some people put a lot of effort into these topics and then apply what they learn to go further down the rabbit hole of the exact same topics without ever doing much with the tools or methods which they find. “I’m really productive at being productive” comes to mind. In my humble opinion, I believe it is best to get exposed to some “productivity” ideas and then try them out to see what works for you. One technique which I found works well for me is the Pomodoro Technique. I absolutely hate the idea of living by a timer and I almost cringe when I tell people about it but at the end of the day, for some reason, it really does keep me on track. We can thank Francesco Cirillo for coming up with this incredibly simple idea: breaking long periods of work into manageable chunks. Including breaks of course.
Traditionally it looks like this:
25 minutes of focused work
5-10 minute break
25 minutes of focused work
5-10 minute break
25 minutes of focused work
5-10 minute break
25 minutes of focused work
20-30 minute break
Rinse and repeat.
It’s ingenious right? I guess we all have done something like this but the trick is the timer. For some reason, setting a timer for a somewhat short period of time which you know will go off allowing you to have quick recharge before diving in again really helps to keep you (me) on track. Another benefit is, after some use, you become more aware of how long tasks will take you which helps you plan your time more wisely. You can adjust the times too as you wish but it would be recommended to not deviate too far the set times. It doesn’t really make sense to refer to it as the pomodoro technique if you are working for 45 minutes and “resting” for 3 minutes. Furthermore, if the block of work time is not fully focused then the effectiveness of the whole technique flies out of the window. If you find yourself checking your phone or browsing the internet during the “focused work” times then try shortening the length of the focused work block. Typically for me I tend to stick between 20 – 30 minute for the focused work slot and take the longer side of the breaks. If I was using this strategy at work I might stick to shorter breaks but a lot of times I get up and clean or de-clutter my house during the break because for me it’s easier to do in chunks rather dedicating a whole afternoon to it once a week or something. I find that it also helps my creativity as sometimes new ideas will come up as I am sweeping or putting items in their rightful place.
In a nutshell (or tomato skin?) it boils down to this:
Choose your task (I follow my Productive APP to pick and check off tasks I would like to do)
&
Follow the above layout.
People have also been kind enough to create timers specifically for this technique- check out Tomato Timer.