#100DaysOfBulletJournalIdeas: 85 - Pomodoro your Tasks
/Welcome to Day 85 of my #100DaysofBulletJournalIdeas Project!
Idea 85: Pomodoro your Tasks
Pomodoro your Tasks
Have you heard of the Pomodoro technique?
It's a method created by Francisco Cirillo in the 80's to help you improve your productivity by encouraging you to focus on only one task at a time for a certain amount time, most notably for 25 minutes, along with a 5-minute break.
The idea is to commit to working on only one task for this period of time and then you'll have a short break to refresh your mind.
The concept works because you're able to commit to a short amount of time of maximized efficiency while looking forward to a short break.
When I first learned of this concept many years ago, I thought it was brilliant and I went ahead and tried it out. I found that it did help increase my efficiency. I looked forward to the short break and once the time was up somehow my mind was refreshed enough to get to work.
I also realized that this method would work perfectly with the Bullet Journal by drawing out circles next to tasks. Each circle would be one pomodoro (25 minutes) and you would estimate how many pomodoros it would take you to finish the task. Once you finish a pomodoro and make progress with your task, you can check off or fill in the pomodoro circle.
This technique would also help you get better at calculating how many tasks you could realistically achieve in a day, therefore increasing your focus on what you can accomplish today. I'm sure I'm probably not the only one who overestimates how many tasks I can get done each day.
I would recommend using a timer to help you stay focused within the time frame and check off the circle pomodoros in your Bullet Journal to keep visual track of how many you've achieved. I've used apps such as Tomato Timer (web), Clockwork Tomato (Android), and Forest (Android & iOS) all of which can be customized to different times, I believe. Recently I've been experimenting with using an hourglass with about 30-minute increments.
That's another thing, you can be flexible about how much time you devote, it doesn't have to be confined to just 25 minutes with a 5-minute break. You could do 30 minutes of work and 10 for a break or 52 and 17. It'll take some time to figure out what works for you.
I tend to work in long bursts and tire myself out, so creating a healthier balance means that I can manage my energy more efficiently, at least that's the idea :)
Have you tried the Pomodoro technique? I hope this idea helps your productivity!
Note: Amazon Affiliate links were used in this article which means that if you make a purchase through this them, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support my work here on Tiny Ray of Sunshine and I'm grateful to you for your support! :)
