Struggling to meet deadlines? Overwhelmed by too many tasks on your To-Do list? Feeling anxious and stressed about putting in quality work?
If you’ve answered Yes to any of these questions, what you urgently need is time management. It helps you to organize, prioritize and pace your work so that it is completed well and within the stipulated time limit.
Time Management: Is It So Important?
We all have the same 24-hour day, but how we structure the time, and how satisfied we are at the end of the day that we have achieved our goals lies at the heart of Time Management.
It means we exercise control over time and the effort required. Managing time means that we differentiate between urgent or immediate tasks, and those that can be deferred to a later time. This way, you can decide which tasks are time-wasting ones, and which deserve the maximum time.
Pomodoro Timer: Know All About It
You may have heard about the Pomodoro Technique – It was invented by a young student in the 1980s who found himself swamped under course work. He hit upon the idea of breaking up tasks into smaller chunks of time, focusing intensely for the duration and then taking a short break before resuming the next segment.
He used a basic kitchen timer that he had lying around in his place, and this happened to be in the shape of a tomato, which translates to Pomodor in Italian. Thus was born the Pomodoro technique – a quirky name for a serious time management technique! Visit the Rest and Digest website for more information on pomodoro timers.
Working With The Pomodoro Technique
Before you start, map the task in a series of steps. Put in every detail, including items such as sharpening your pencils, or scheduling loo breaks.
Prioritize tasks according to your own assessment and arrange them in logical sequence, calibrated from easy to hard or vice versa.
Get yourself a Pomodoro timer (or similar device, but not a phone) and set the alarm for 25 minutes.
Start the timer and your work and continue with no distractions till the timer goes off.
Mark this as one Pomodoro session. Tick off the part of work completed.
Take a 5-minute break, move away from the work area. Avoid checking social media, and look at your email only if it’s important. Keep your phone on silent and respond to calls only during breaks.
Resume work and continue this way for 4-5 Pomodoro sessions. This entitles you to a longer 15-20 minute break.
Work through the entire project till it is completed. Modify and customize your Pomodoro sessions. Club smaller, routine tasks into one session.
Record distractions, and document how you dealt with them to be better prepared next time.
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