How many times have you arrived at the end of the day and thought to yourself there just aren’t enough hours in a day?
There’s no question about it, we face a world that has more distractions than ever before. Got a text message? New email? There’s notifications going off every few seconds, begging for our attention.
And usually, we succumb and pull ourselves away from whatever it was we were doing.
The good news is there’s a neat little hack that we can use that will help us achieve what Abraham Maslow called the peak experience, and what Mihály Csíkszentmihályi referred to as flow. And even better, it’s so very simple we’ll wonder why we hadn’t thought of this before.
It’s name?
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. These intervals are known as “pomodori”, the plural of the Italian word pomodoro for “tomato”. The method is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility.
If you search your smart phone’s app store, you’ll likely find countless apps that you could use, if you don’t want to invest in a kitchen timer (besides, the constant ticking might serve as a distraction worse than your phone notifications!)
The key, however, is to minimize (or remove completely) the distractions that could come up during this time.
Put a “do not disturb” sign on your office door. Close down Outlook. Put your phone on silent mode or quiet hours.
And once you’ve done that, then set your timer and go.
Take the first task on your to do list, and just do it. For 25 minutes. Once the timer goes off, take a break of 5-10 minutes. Then go back at it.
Eventually you’ll notice that you’ll be getting a whole lot more accomplished in seemingly shorter amounts of time.
Let me know below if you’ve used this technique, or are just trying it and want to share your experience!
Hi, I’m Aaron Graves — Voluntaryist, Entrepreneur, Writer, Hobbyist Programmer, and PhDude. Phew, that’s a lot to get out in one sentence.
I started Change2Change.me. It’s all about helping people realize their full potential.
You can follow me on Twitter or connect with me on LinkedIn.
Hi Aaron,
This article on time management is really good. From a very long time, I wanted to work on the way I managed my time. This is helpful.
Thank you!!
Warm Regards,
Priyadarshini
Great Priyadarshini!
Be sure to let me know if you try this method, and how it works out for you!