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Dear friends,
It’s the start of summer! Vacations and sunshine can mean a lovely slower pace, and it can also be harder to get work done. Continuing the basic productivity theme from last month, let’s talk about when you sit down at the computer to work- and realize 20 minutes later that you haven’t even started. Whether it’s Pinterest or online shopping or Twitter or email, it’s easy to lose time online. I’m going to give you a very simple strategy to avoid procrastination- the Pomodoro Technique.
The basic idea is set a timer (originally a tomato-shaped kitchen timer, hence the name) for 25 minutes and then work uninterrupted (by text/ email/ web-surfing/ anything), for that interval. After each “pomodoro,” take a break- for 5 minutes. Repeat. After you complete 4 pomodoros (2 hours), you take a longer break of 15-30 minutes. That’s all. There are apps, there’s a whole book by the Italian guy with the kitchen timer (Francesco Cirillo), here’s an article all about it, but all you really need is the timer function on your computer or phone.
I think you will get a lot of benefit out of using the Pomodoro Technique on its own. If you’re already using it, these are my strategies to make it even more effective:
Schedule Pomodoros on your calendar for a specific time/day. Otherwise the whole day will go by and you won’t get to it.
Decide in advance what work to do. Otherwise you’ll waste time deciding in the moment and perhaps put off daunting but important work.
Plan your break activities ahead of time. I promise you will be more motivated to work throughout your Pomodoro if you know what you’re looking forward to. Bonus points for breaks involving fresh air or movement or other people!
Let me know how this is working for you. If you have a recommendation for a fun break activity, send it to me and I will share next month. As always, send me updates about papers, grants, talks, and other accomplishments so I can amplify via social media or, for the UCSF people, local bragging!
Warmly,
Urmimala