The second lesson was in general a recap of lesson 1 and an introduction to a time boxing technique used my successful CEOs that Dee had the honor to work with. I came across this concept before, when I was writing my thesis and was looking for techniques how to manage my time more efficiently.
Introduction to the Pomodoro Technique
The method that worked best for me to get things done was the Pomodoro Technique by Francesco Cirillo, which takes the concept a little further as it offers a great solution how to handle distractions.
Cirillo differentiates between two kinds of distractions: Internal and external ones. The external distraction is happening, when a colleague comes to your desk, an email pops up or the phone rings. The internal distraction instead, happens when you work on one thing and lose focus. It happens all the time, when your mind wonders off and tells you how important it is not to continue working right now but what to cook tonight or when to pick up your shirts from the dry cleaners. So how can you handle these?
How to handle distractions
External distractions are quite easy to follow. Just switch of your phone, close your email client and seal yourself in. You might even be able to educate your peers that you are doing important work right now, but as you take breaks every hour you can get back at them later.
The internal distractions need a different angle. As you always have your brain with you and cannot just tell it to shut up, there is a little trick for this:
- Acknowledge the presence of the distraction.
- Write it down, if it is something important or make a mark for more mundane thoughts.
- Focus back on your task and continue working
The “writing down and marking” part is very important as it gets the thoughts “out of your head”. Your brain realizes that it can now let go of it as you know that you can find it on your paper.
Maybe this is helpful for you, if you have trouble focusing on one task for a longer period of time. The pomodoro technique actually recommends to start with 10 to 15 minutes of concentrated effort on one task and build it up to 25 minutes from there.
Why I still need to learn to become more productive
Also I know all these productivity techniques, I somehow start using them with high motivation and then something happens and I stop again. When I was in university, this techniques helped me a lot. Somehow I have forgotten how to apply them in my business life. This is because I am used to work for other people instead for myself and I am highly service oriented. That is why I choose the offline consulting niche as my business. However, I certainly need to gain more structure for my own business and how I schedule and track my time. A time boxing strategy is definitely a good start and perhaps the solution to getting things done. If there is no plan, there is nothing to follow. I will keep you update on my posts how I am able to build a daily action plan and to which areas I am able to apply this techniques.
Have you heard about this technique and what are your experiences? I am interested in your opinion and am happy to share my findings with you.
Leave A Reply (5 comments So Far)
Gary Davis
337 days ago
So true, it’s the internal distractions that are insidious and like the frog which never jumps out of the hot water, — gets us in trouble, and we are so unaware of what’s happened until it’s too late.
I will begin to use the technique of stopping and writing down these distractions in a specific place so that they don’t get passed over in the process.
Thanks for the insight!
–Gary
catherine
337 days ago
Interesting post Chris. I look forward to your results of hte Pomodor technique, I did not find it particularly helpful in my business as I could not get enough done. i would certainly look at it again, but I found my self that actually writing down something lodged it into my head all the more, and I found that more distracting, but I would love to hear soem positive feedback,
Laurence Samuels
337 days ago
Working from home comes with so many distractions. It’s something I tend to take to extremes. Either I shut myself off from home life completely or get very distracted by my home life.
I liked your suggestions Chris.
Chris
337 days ago
Hello Gary,
you can download the “today work sheet” from http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/products.html#pomodorocheat to get started.
Hi Catherine,
Can you explain how much focus you put on the distraction? It probably is enough to note one single word as a reminder to get back and allow it to use more brainpower after the pomodoro is over and develop from that single word.
Minor tasks like “cleaning the room” should never be written down in my opinion. I use a ” ‘ ” for an internal interruption and a ” – ” for an external one.
Hey Laurence,
thanks for enjoying my article. It helps to start with 10 minutes for a pomodoro and see how many distractions you had. The first time I started with around 50. That´s 1 distraction every 12 seconds. I totally wasn´t aware of that.
Dave
335 days ago
Hi All
I’ve used to Pomodoro Technique in the past too. Like I said in my post, it was beneficial, however the principle of 25 mins work with 15 mins break didn’t really work out for me, I couldn’t get enough done and seemed to just plow through.
So now I’ve amalgamated Pomodoro and Dee’s 45min technique and it’s working wonders. 45mins of solid work, no distractions. Then 15 mins doing lighter stuff i.e. checking emails, making calls etc. I might have to patent it… “Pomo45″ !!