A new year comes with new goals. Let me guess, it's the beginning of the New Year and you are psyched to put those resolutions into play?
Well, it doesn't matter whether your resolution is studying harder, getting in shape, or budgeting. All resolutions require the same key ingredient to succeed: focus. If you want to hone your ability to get stuff done, you can use a method called the Pomodoro technique to become more focused and efficient in only five steps:
A Goal Without a Plan Is Hard To Achieve
When you don’t have a process to help you focus, even the slightest interruption can throw you off your game plan, leaving you wondering what you were doing in the first place. The baby cries, the phone rings, or someone texts you, and that once coveted priority slips down to an “it can wait” status and eases you into your old procrastinating ways all over again.
The Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1990s and outlined in his book The Pomodoro Technique. The method is a way to block out the world in 25-minute time bites and zero in on what you have to do using a Pomodoro styled timer. You can use any timer, but the Pomodoro (aka tomato) looking timer is what Cirillo used to invent the technique to help him study in college. There are even apps and Chrome extensions that you can use online! I recommend searching the app store for "Pomodoro" to find apps that are compatible with your operating system.
Pomodoro Steps
Here are the simple five steps.
It is that simple! Of course most projects can’t be done in 25 minutes, so the idea is to try to do as many Pomodoros as you can to accomplish the goal with taking a longer break after three or four Pomodoros (e.g. 20 minutes).
It is amazing how much you can get done in 25 minutes of uninterrupted time. I use this technique to read and to write. I recommend the Pomodoro on for size as you move into the New Year to take on your goals like a vengeance. Of course this is one technique among many to help focus so may or may not be something you like. But if you try it and find it helpful, please share your experience below or on social media!