During snowed-out ATL, I was separated from my beloved laptop for several days. When I finally had it back in my posession, I had a LOT of work to catch up on.
I’m sure you are familiar with this inner diaglogue:
“Time to complete my to-do list. Item number one. Oh, wait, email! Wait. Oops! Gotta answer this text! Which reminds me, I really need to get up and preheat the oven, oh I need a snack….let me check my facebook, oh no! What was I doing again?!”
Each time you try to resettle yourself into the task at hand, you are more frantic, more exasperated, and more scatter-brained.
Fear not! I have a solution!
It is called the Pomodoro Technique.
No, you don’t eat tomatoes to increase your concentration.
Please, check out the official website for an adorable video about guarding your time and getting stuff done.
In a nutshell, (or a pomodoro?) the technique is a simple process of using a timer to accomplish tasks in twenty-five minute intervals with five minute breaks in between each “Pomodoro.” After you have completed four pomodoros, you get a longer break.
It sounds deceptively simple. And it is. The key is making the time within your pomodoro sacred. I use an app for my android that runs a pomodoro timer. If I attempt to open any program other than the pomodoro, the timer stops. The technique makes you give twenty-five unadulterated minutes to the task in front of you.
When was the last time you didn’t multi-task? It’s incredibly freeing. I get tasks done one at a time in order of their importance and don’t get burned out trying to finish tasks in three hour marathons.
I made you a free printable with a phrase that I coined for my fellow pomodoro converts: “Just Pomodor-it!”
Watch the video and try out the technique. It really does work!xoxoxo
Rachel Eleanor
Listening to To Build a Home by Cinematic Orchestra.
Indie Craft Experience 