Habit of the Week: the Pomodoro technique

Pomawhat? 

Pomodoro! I'd like to share one of my favourite tips with you all, that resonates with the "Little and Often" post from last week. This method is by far the best and easiest way to get your butt in gear and get your important tasks done, without feeling stressed, overwhelmed or exhausted.

Source: zirtual.com

The Method
It's such an easy method that I can guarantee you won't forget it:

Set a timer for 25 minutes. Work on your task for the whole 25 minutes with no distractions. Once the timer goes off, reward yourself with a 5 minute break. This is a 'pomodoro'. Repeat this cycle of 25/5 three or four times then have a longer break of 20 minutes before returning to the 25/5 cycle.

The beauty of this is that you can alter the increments to suit your needs, such as ADHD, depression, physical impairments, and so on. I've used a couple of variations over time: 20/10, 15/15, 30/30, 45/15. It's up to you to pick what timings will suit your needs. 

But don't slack off! Don't be silly and do 5 minutes of work with 55 minutes of rest. That's just cheating the system and to be honest won't really show you any progress. Try and aim for as much work as possible without overtiring yourself. 

And remember, no distractions! Put your phone away, turn off the TV, get off YouTube and Facebook, and just focus on your task. It's okay to leave your emails unattended for 25 minutes, you can check them in your break!

How it works

All it does is force you to break up your task into smaller pieces that are more manageable. It forces you to question the task and ask yourself "right, what bit can I get done in the next 25 minutes?". It aims at making you focus and get large tasks done bit by bit. 

Take, for example, a 2,000 word essay, a 10 page report, or a household to clean. In one pomodoro you could, read a chapter relevant to your subject; focus on getting 500 words of your report done; tackle the dishes and put them away. Don't think about everything else that needs doing once you're done, just focus on getting this one section of 25 minutes completed. Take your break, and then consider what your next move is.

Over time, you will learn from experience for how long it takes you to get certain tasks done. It may take you 5 pomodoros to get the house clean. With this knowledge, you can plan your days better, knowing when you have enough time to get everything done, and how much work you can realistically get done in a day. You will develop self-discipline along the way and eventually find that tasks are easier and more manageable to complete.

Source: preparedpantry.com

Go try it out!

Here's an android app that's free to use, called Pomodroido.
A free app for the iPhone, the Simple Pomodoro Timer
And a free web app / desktop application: http://www.focusboosterapp.com/

Let me know in the comments if you have found any handy tools that you use in conjunction with the pomodoro technique.

~ It's never too late in the day to start your day over ~

Habit of the Week: Nice Shiny Patches; Little and Often

Think about all the things that you need to get done right now. Think of all of it. Your work, your school, your housework, your projects, your bills. Scary, right?

Is this what's in your head right now?
Source: pocketchanged.com

Now, stop thinking about it all. Sounds like a stupid thing to say, when I've just told you to think about it, but first things first: Make lists. Go away, write down all those scary things onto lists (multiple lists separated by type would be a plus!), then come back with a clear mind. Done it? No? You should! I did. 

Lists are one of the greatest tools you can use when feeling overwhelmed by having lots to do. They allow you to put things down, pen on paper, fingers on keys, and not worry about forgetting anything important as it's all written down. You can allow those nagging thoughts to leave your mind, and come back to them when you're ready. Back to my point.

Don't do all of it: just get started

This applies to any large and taunting task, really. The perfectionist inside you is probably making the task out to be a Big Scary Thing because you worry you won't do it perfectly. And everybody knows, if you don't do any of it, you can't fail being perfect as you never tried! Hurray...?

Ignore that voice, and just do a little bit. I'll give you some examples.

I was in the bathroom the other day, brushing my teeth. I was idly looking around, as I do when I'm standing there with a mouth full of toothpaste, and noticed that the sink was a bit grubby. I don't know about you, but in my home this soapy watery gloop puddles up on the sink near the soap dispenser. Yuck. Most days I put my blinkers on and don't notice it. Not that day. As soon as I was finished brushing my teeth, I decided I'd wipe it. Just that little bit. I wanted to get rid of the gloopy stuff, and nothing else. So I did. I wiped it all up (with toilet paper or something, I forget) and felt better that I'd made a tiny patch better. Nice Shiny Patch. I then grabbed the bristly brush from under the sink and decides to scrub the rest of the sink area, just because I wanted the Nice Shiny Patch to be a bit bigger, and encompass the whole sink. A few minutes later, the whole sink was a Nice Shiny Patch, and I felt accomplished.

...I then made the fatal mistake of looking around at the rest of the bathroom, and noticing more mess. I felt disheartened that my Nice Shiny Patch was so tiny and insignificant compared to the rest of the bathroom. The thought of doing the same to the whole bathroom was pretty daunting. So that's when I learnt my next point:

Do a Little at a time...

When feeling in a good mood, I like to spontaneously buy cleaning supplies. I don't necessarily know how to use them, or where to use them, but I feel that if I own cleaning supplies, I can feel better about my messy home. On a recent trip, one of those cleaning supplies happened to be a grout cleaning brush. It cost £1 from a local Staples store. It has a long handle about 8" long, and hard bristled on the end. But the bristles on this brush are in a thin, long line. A bit different to regular scrubbing brushes you find. That was why this one is designed to clean grout.

A grout brush, quite similar to the one I own
Source: nationwidejanitorialsupply.com

Cleaning grouting between tiles was something I never really considered doing. As a young person who recently left the family home, this is all new to me. But I put my new brush in the bathroom, hoping it would do the cleaning itself. It didn't.

Once again, I found myself brushing my teeth, looking around. This time I spotted the tiles. I had the sudden urge to clean the tiles. Not all of them, but one particular patch under the shower unit that was getting a bit grimy from the moisture. So I attacked it and cleaned around about 9 tiles. I made a Nice Shiny Patch!

This time, while admiring my Nice Shiny Patch, I ignored the fact that my whole bathroom is tiled floor to ceiling. I didn't care, I had made a good start. I vowed to myself I would do a Little At A Time.

Left: after; Right: before.

I thought I'd add a picture to show what I'm on about. It's sort of hard to tell in these pictures, but there's definitely a orangey tinge to the grout in the right picture, that I eliminated in the left. These pictures don't do it justice just how gross it originally was. But I made a Nice Shiny Patch!

...but do it Often.

Of course, it's all well and good making a Nice Shiny Patch, but it's not very handy when it gets all dirty again, or when the patch stays little. The aim is to make your Nice Shiny Patch bigger by cleaning around it, and then joining up Shiny Patches together to make a Nice Shiny Room!

So now, every time I brush my teeth, I wipe the sink, and make the Shiny Patch a bit bigger. Every time I have a shower, I take a minute to make a Shiny Patch on the tiles with my new grout brush. Soon the whole shower area will be a Nice Shiny Shower! I've even got a grout brush to use in the kitchen on the tiled counter-tops to clean the grout there, as I want a Nice Shiny Counter-top too!

I just love to walk into a room and see my little bits of effort, and my little bits of progress against daunting tasks. The key to Little and Often is that it consists of two parts: do a Little at a time, but make sure that you do it Often enough that it counts. By incorporating this habit into your life, you can make it a little bit easier for yourself to tackle daunting tasks and make a manageable household.

To Summarise

Little and Often, and focus on making Nice Shiny Patches. Have your supplies ready to tackle the little spots regularly. There's no shame in only doing a little bit. You're aiming to improve your home and if the best method is to do it bit by bit, and not all in one go, then by all means, go forth with your Nice Shiny Patches and make them gradually multiply so you have Nice Shiny Rooms and Nice Shiny Homes!