Time Management Technique

Most of us lead a busy life; with work and personal obligations, we find ourselves with not enough time in the day to get done what needed to get done, leaving us feeling overwhelmed, burned out, and anxious. Our jobs are to keep things from falling through the cracks, so a sound time management system is essential to establish and can help serve you well in the long run, provided you stick with it.

Finding a system that works best for you is essential to your success in managing your time and accomplishing your tasks. In this blog today, I will explore a one-time management technique with other tips to follow on later blogs.

Have you heard of the Pomodoro Technique? It’s When you tackle tasks in 25- minute increments, with the help of a kitchen timer? You can use other timers if you like, but the idea is to use a timer to time how long you will spend in one’s specific task uninterrupted for a particular period.

The core process is consistent with six steps; each day, you will begin with a list of things to do and then consider tackling each item on your list in 25 minutes intervals. Once one task is over, mark X on the list and moving on to the next item and so on.

1. Choose a task you like to get done, and you feel that it deserves your undivided attention
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes to work, making a promise to yourself that you will not be interrupted
3. Work on the task until your timer goes off – one tip here when you find yourself immersed with the task at hand and something pop into your mind that there is something else you need to do, take a minute and write the task down on a piece of paper then continue back what you were doing.
4. When the timer goes off – put a checkmark on the list; congratulations, you have managed to work on one task for 25 minutes completely uninterrupted.
5. Take a short break – grab a cup of coffee or take a short walk; it must be a break unrelated to work.
6. Every four sets of Pomodoros take a more extended break, such as 20 or 30 minutes. The idea is to give your brain a rest to adapt or incorporate new information before the next one starts.

The benefits and objective of using this technique will have you wonder where all the time goes? Also, proving that you can dedicate some time aside from focusing entirely on one item at a time, might be better in the long run to determine:

• How much effort an activity /task requires
• Helps you cut down interruptions
• Estimate the time it takes for an activity or task – once you get used to the technique, you will be able to accurately predict how many pomodoros it will take to accomplish a task
• More effective – while the pomodoros or timers’ contour is set, you can adjust to maximize efficiency. To be more effective, you can select the first 25 minutes reviewing what you have done before you start on the second round.
• Setup timetable – by setting time limits motivating you to complete a task within a specified period.
• Helps you define your objectives

 

How can Pomodoros change you?

By applying the technique, you can manage interruptions and reduce the lengths and number of meetings. Become more aware of how often interrupted you get and scheduling regular breaks to improve your mental agility. Others reasons it will change you such as:

• Reduce mistakes due to lack of concentration
• No more wrong estimates, rework, stress, or overtime
• Improve motivation by improving the content of your work
• Reduce the complexity of your goals
• Transform time from being an enemy to an ally to achieve your goals and meet deadlines

However, the downside of this system demands interruption-free time blocks, which may prove difficult for many. However, learning what works require getting curious and trying new things. How about you, do want to be curious and try it out for a day to see what your learnings and take away in managing and handling your tasks?