It's Pomodoro! Pomo.... what!?

Pom-o-dor-o', tricky to say, but awesome once you get the knack of it.

Let me tell you about this awesome little thing that's getting some big results!

I first heard the term Pomodoro when I was listening to Jane Anderson speak. If you’re not familiar with Jane’s work, she is a branding and content expert. She also works with people on developing their content.

*Hot tip, if you’re a leader and you’re wanting to position yourself as an expert in your field, check out Jane’s blog here.

So when I heard Jane say she crushes through content in a couple of hours once a month… I thought I’m going to google that. So I did. And boy am I glad I did.

I’ve been practicing the pomodoro method for a few weeks now, and let me tell you, it’s an absolute game changer.

As you may know, I have 4 tiny children, at home (a combination of school holidays and home quarantine), I used to think I got through a lot given the time I had available. But I was still always feeling short on time.

Either my to-do list was never ending, or I was missing time to connect with my boys while trying to do a million things at once.

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"Cue Pomodoro"

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Essentially you work in sprints. If you’ve been involved in the project or IT world, or working ‘in agile’ you’ll be familiar with the term sprints.

If you haven’t, it’s essentially breaking down your work (program) into bitesize chunks.

Pomodoro goes one step further and takes those chunks and carves them up into working time sprints.

Interestingly many high performers, particularly my guru Brendon Burchard also recommends working in sprints. The main reasons being;

1. Energy

2. Concentration

3. Focus

There’s two different type of pomodoro; working in 25 minutes sprints, and working in 50 minute sprints.

I like to work in the 50min block, with a 10minute break.

So, for the last two weeks, I’ve been trying out this pomodoro technique, breaking my working day into 50min sprints. And I am literally crushing it. I’ve never been so efficient. My output is amazing, my concentration has been next level. AND if that wasn’t good enough, because I’m actually getting a lot of work done, I’ve got so much head space for creativity which is giving me even more ideas to implement.

Here's how it works

1. Decide what chunk of work you're going to do.

So the key here is to only pick one task or piece of work to do. It’s easy to get excited and start thinking about a whole list of things. Stop. Just one.

2. Set the timer for 50 minutes

This one is pretty obvious. Take your phone and set the timer for 50 minutes. The trick is to stick to it.

3. Work on what's going to move the needle

Once you’ve set your timer don’t get up and have a snack during the 50 minutes, no checking socials or the quick email. 50 minutes of dedicated time on the task at hand. (if work requirements mean you can’t be ‘offline’ for 50 minutes, you can do the 25 minute/5 minute break pomodoro method).

4. Take a short re-energising break

Take 10 minutes. Get a snack, have a big drink of water, walk around. 10 minutes of break time.

5. Start again for another 50 minutes.

You might be wondering about WHEN you check emails, phone calls etc? Make this one of your 50 minutes tasks and then only do that.

I highly recommend this method if you have a lot of work to crank through, or you want to get more efficient at it.

Let me know how you go. I’d love to hear if Pomodoro is as good for you, as it has been for me.

Until next time,

Eat the frog, Get the worm... and give Pomodoro a go!