The Pomodoro® Technique & How It Helped Me Become More Productive
If you’re anything like me and have a lot to do but have trouble staying focused and completing the tasks, this blog is for you. I recently learned about a task-management system called the The Pomodoro® Technique and I tried it out for 30 days to see how my productivity levels would change. The results are at the end of this blog.
I’ve Been Easily Distracted and Burned Out
Over the last several months I felt like I have been lacking in the productivity department. It was late fall/early spring so it was still pretty chilly outside without much sun, not that I’m making excuses for myself, I just work better when it’s bright and, well… alive outside. I’ve been getting pretty down about how I know I should be trying harder but running a small business full-time, being a parent, a partner, a cat parent, and a plant parent, it’s hard to balance time for everything all while trying to gain some sort of social life. It’s been so mentally draining over the last few months that I knew I needed to make some sort of positive change before I was stuck in this hole forever.
I’ll do this thing where I’ll randomly get an idea so I’ll rush to my pile of scrap paper and write it down. I have between 5-10 different papers going at a time (calendars, to-do lists, future product ideas, blog notes, multiple schedule plans, etc) so I make sure to get the one the idea corresponds with.
For example: The other day I thought about my old vinyl decals and how I kind of missed selling them. I remembered that they got a little gross looking from transport and normal wear and tear over time. I pulled them because they weren’t selling and rightfully so. The packaging was a little (or a lot) lacking. I wrote on my to-do list that I wanted to figure out a better way to package them so I could sell them again. Immediately after I wrote it down I had an idea. I would make the entire decal backing 4x6”, include a thick cardboard backing, and put them both in a clear, plastic sleeve. Naturally I had to make a decal to see how it would work. 2 hours later I have 7 decals and more ideas. I didn’t mean to do anything but write down the task I would complete in the future but my brain got a little carried away. This tends to happen a lot and it makes me avoid the tasks that I needed to do for the day. This happens a lot particularly when it’s a task I’ve been avoiding. I tell myself not to feel too guilty and I try to justify it because I did still get something done.
When I’m facing burnout on top of this, it’s almost guaranteed that my business is going to get put on the back burner. It’s too hard to work feeling completely unmotivated and uninspired because my brain will do whatever it can to get me to take a break. Don’t get me wrong, I take plenty of breaks, but never like I should. I take breaks when I’m forced to, not when my body is asking for it.
Running a small business on your own means you’re going to have endless tasks and way too little time to complete everything.
Create Task Lists So You Always Know What To Do Next
I’ve been trying to map out all of the tasks that I have to do each month. I have a whole list of things that shouldn’t change from month to month and then I divided those tasks up per week. For example: I know my blog will be posted on the last Friday of the month so I can spend the first week researching ideas, the second week coming up with a rough draft, the third week finalizing my draft and editing it, and the final week I can add photos and get it ready to post. This helps eliminate the whole “I don’t know what to do today” without coming up with a daily schedule. Daily schedules are great, but if there’s a task I don’t particularly feel like I can accomplish that day I’ll feel guilt. If I make weekly tasks, I can choose what I can do and I’ll still feel a sense of accomplishment.
The reason to-do lists work is because we feel a bit of serotonin when we get to cross off a tasks. We as humans love to gamify our goals because then it just feels more fun. It doesn’t feel so much like work, and let’s face it, who loves to work?
The Pomodoro® Technique
One day when I was doom scrolling instead of working, I saw a video ad that showed a person who struggled to stay on task and what they used to help them stay productive. After a little bit of research, I learned that they were using The Pomodoro® Technique. In the late 1980s, Francesco Cirillo developed a time management method that was based on 25-minutes of focused work that was followed by five-minute breaks. This is known as The Pomodoro® Technique. By using this method, you can develop skills that allow you to manage your time and reach your goals with less effort and anxiety. Sounds too good to be true, right? This works because we learn best when we can be fully engaged in a task, but that can be draining, too. For our brains to take in all the information, breaks are important. When you practice this method, you’ll be able to increase your attention span and improve your ability to stay concentrated.
In the video ad, the person used a paper that allowed them to color in a frog for each 25-minute block they completed focused work. I thought that was such a cool idea but I wanted to change it just a little bit to better fit my needs. I came up with a similar worksheet but I used hearts and smiley faces and also left blanks to fill in what I did during each blog. This allows me to look back and see how productive I was throughout each day to remind me that I’m not a failure.
After I created this worksheet and had a to-do list done for the week, I knew I was going to try to implement this method.
My simple, non-distracting worksheet I created to help track my progress throughout each day.
I sat down, put my headphones in, and set a 25-minute timer and turned my phone screen down to minimize distractions, and got to work. I’ll admit, at the beginning it was kind of hard to stay focused on certain tasks for the entirety of the timer, but I pushed through with no problem. As soon as the timer went off, I got to color in a piece of a heart with bright, colorful markers and I knew this was going to work for me. On the first day, I accomplished 9 sets of 25 minutes worth of work. That’s 225 minutes (3.75 hours) that I sat down and completed tasks. Not just scrolled social media or got upset because I didn’t know what to do. I actually got so much done. I felt so much more accomplished in a single day than I did the week prior. Plus I got to take breaks to color cute little hearts all day and it really brightened my mood. The next day I worked for 350 minutes (5.8 hours) and felt even better. After day 3 I knew I was going to make it a 30 day challenge (but I wouldn’t beat myself up if I didn’t make it every single day).
After using The Pomodoro® Technique for 30 days, here are my thoughts:
Pros
It held me accountable
It made me want to do the work (I enjoyed the small coloring breaks)
It definitely helped me keep focused and stay on task
I didn’t get distracted by my phone when I needed to get work done
I can look back and remind myself that I was productive each day and my brain is just being silly
It really helps with my “time blindness”
Cons
It made me feel like I had to fill in all the hearts so I would suggest only using 2-3 to start instead of 4
Sometimes I felt bad about not doing the same amount of work each day
I often forgot to hit start on the timer and would have to work a little longer than 25 minutes
I caught myself watching the timer more often than I wanted to so I’d put my phone face down
I didn’t always reward myself after completing the 4 blocks so I often became overworked
Final Thoughts
Overall The Pomodoro® Technique really did help me stay concentrated longer as long as I had my task list done and I’ve minimized all distractions. Sometimes I work best listening to music with headphones, sometimes I work best with my noise-cancelling earplugs in. I really enjoyed using markers to add color to my otherwise boring pages. Some days it felt overwhelming to track everything I did and some days I really just needed a break from work to do other things but I do plan to continue to use this technique as often as I can but I’ll make better use of my breaks and actually use them as scheduled so I can see more benefits.
Staying productive is hard for everyone every single day of their lives. You know the feeling when you go to start a task that you don’t really feel like doing so you get distracted and move on to something new. Next thing you know it’s the end of the day and you haven’t really accomplished anything, not even the one task you set out to do.
It’s okay if you don’t have it all figured out yet. None of us do. It’s okay to change your surroundings to better adapt to your life. It’s okay to ask for help and to need extra accommodations to complete everyday tasks. Don’t try to change yourself to try to adapt to your environment. Instead, change your environment to support who you are. If doesn’t have to look “traditional” to work for you. I’ve changed my life around so dramatically that I quit my normal job to stay at home full time and commit to Sage & Oak. It’s what best suited my needs at the current time. It’s not traditional, sure, but it works for me.
If you resonated with this blog, I challenge you to try this method for 3 days using the worksheet provided and see how it helps you. I’d love to hear about your experiences! Feel free to comment below or reach out via email with your conclusions.
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