The Pomodoro Technique can help with procrastination. You know, when you find anything else to do other than the task you have to do!
Are you thinking of cleaning up your desktop, telling yourself, ‘tomorrow’s another day?’ Are you dealing with your expenses rather than tackling the huge report that’s due?
Most of us have suffered from procrastination at some point in life. The good news is that there is a technique for managing your procrastination habit and strangely, it involves a tomato!
The Pomodoro (it’s Italian for tomato) refers to the handy tomato-shaped timers that you might find in your kitchen. What’s this got to do with time management and procrastination?
The idea is to build an uninterrupted window of 25-minute chunks of time to get down to the task at hand. The Pomodoro Technique is here to help. Developed in the late ’80s by the University student, Francesco Cirillo (who was feeling overwhelmed by the amount of study he had to do), the technique is very simple:
Set your timer for a 25-minute block
Do as much as you can uninterrupted for 25 minutes
Take a five-minute break
That’s it! It looks simple because it is but it works and here’s why:
- Unblock – you just need to start somewhere, and the Pomodoro gives you freedom and yet discipline to just begin the task.
- Build focus – it will help you avoid distractions and interruptions from constant communication. Turn off notifications, and turn on the Pomodoro timer.
You can use The Pomodoro Technique if you’re stuck, overwhelmed or just struggling to find the motivation to start a task.
Pomodoro is an example of a technique we teach in our leadership courses. It’s important to have the right tools to help overcome such challenges. Learning how to use them can bring about huge positive change.
