To quote a buddy of mine – ‘You lika da sauce?’
Tomatoes are a secret weapon for time management purposes. Before I get into this, let me go back in time…
In elementary school, I was a master procrastinator. I drove my mother NUTS more than one time with a request to help me unjam the old dot matrix printer at 11pm at night – the night before my big paper was due. This was after she had just come home from working the second shift at the old Malden Mills plant in Barre, VT.
In high school, I became a procrastination ninja. I was overloaded with all of the sports, extra curricular activities, part time jobs, and other things. School was always a focal point, and I had a fantastic knack for waiting to get everything done at the last minute.
College applications – yeah those were submitted in a few cases on the last possible day…
Speaking of college, you guessed it. Late nights were spent playing Doom or Focsl’ing (for those from Park Manor North) or any other myriad of things that had absolutely nothing to do with getting the work done. Until it was crunch time. Then the 24 hour computer lab was jammed up, and many times it was a similar crew in there at the last minute racing to knock the projects out.
By junior year, I started to figure out that things could be different.
Well, fast forward a couple of decades, and I find myself using all sorts of compensating approaches to my work life, to my personal life, and increasingly ramping my throughput while reducing the stress levels.
In the past couple of years, I have really internalized that I create the stress in my life. I have come to understand that procrastination is in many ways, a lack of self respect and a lack of respect for my colleagues, family, and friends. Even if it is unintentional.
I have uncovered one technique that has transformed my ability to crank, even when the procrastination temptation is raging like a fire.
The technique involves tomatoes…
The Pomodoro Technique.
This is a time management technique that was apparently developed back in the late 1980’s by a guy named Francesco Cirillo. I only recently learned of this technique from the guys over at Asian Efficiency.
So I mentioned earlier that the best way to get something done is to schedule it on the calendar. Well, what I left out of that article is that I am a recovering procrastinator.
Many days, I’m sufficiently disciplined and motivated to hammer on the to do’s that I have. Some days, I am not as disciplined. When those days hit, I have to employ other compensating measures to keep things moving forward.
There are days where I will schedule things onto the calendar, but I mess around for the first five minutes.
It can be finishing up a call for work that bleeds over a little longer than it should have.
It can be the email inbox time suck that pulls me in, and away from scheduled deliverable.
It can be the need to brew that second cup of coffee.
It can be any variety of things that can pull my attention away. More on this in a future article.
So what is a recovering procrastinator to do? Or someone that just cannot get motivated to start?
My go to is the Pomodoro Technique.
If I find myself 5 minutes into my scheduled window, and I’m not in the zone to crank – I invoke a Pomodoro.
What is a Pomodoro you ask?
It is a time slice that you set a duration for, typically no more than 25 minutes, and you tag a very straightforward goal/deliverable for that time horizon. You set the timer, and you crank during the timer counting down.
Knowing that the timer has been set – it really does have a strange influence on getting going, and plowing into a flow state. It amazes me how many times within 5 to 7 minutes of starting a Pomodoro that I am truly in flow, when a few minutes prior to the Pomodoro starting – I was screwing around with something on my desk – avoiding the task at hand.
In a lot of ways, it is a form of gamificaiton of the to do / deliverable you know you need to get done.
Which apps to use?
Vitamin R – I love this app.
It is simple.
It is frictionless.
It keeps a running log of my Time Slices/Pomodoros, and it tracks my effectiveness on hitting my targets as I use it.
Many times, I will use the app in conjunction with my Apple EarBuds with some 80’s hair band cranking in the background as I go plowing down the work. I do not go longer than 25 minutes ever. Some days, if I am feeling especially energized – I’ll knock the time slice down to 15 minutes to push myself.
Regardless of completion during the slice, I do take the scheduled 5 minute break. I’ll get up and get that coffee or water, and take a quick walk around the house – all before the 5 minute mini breaks is over. The app has a way of linking you right back into your frame of mind if you did not complete the task in the first pomo. Something about this approach works really well, and I find myself typically doing 3-4 pomo’s on varying tasks late at night when I have no interruptions. During the day at work, I find that I can do 2 pomos max before something pulls me away or a meeting has to be tended to.
If you are a recovering procrastinator like me, or if you want a focusing system that really works – try out the Pomodoro Technique with Vitamin R.
It has changed my throughput dramatically over the past year.