I know it very well. There is a ton of work in front of me. And there are also so many distractions everywhere near me. Freelancing is pretty hard when you are not able to find your inner direction, which guides you through decisions to start with so long postponed work. There are many more preffered activities like watching New Avengers movie or unseen episodes of WestWorld, reading news or simply burning my time scrolling through Facebook feed, which always have same topics (because I am closed in my Facebook social bubble). I want to be better! But where to start?
Have you heard about Pomodoro technique?
Main problem with productivity is your inner motivation to start with some issue / work. Any amout of work can be done, after you actually start doing it :) So this is the first step. This technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo and it is called after tomato-shaped kitchen timer. You have two periods of time frames (work and pause). These periods are repeated in cycles. So after few rounds you are happy, because there is a lot of work done. You had also fun meanwhile and you feel better, because you don't sit whole day in front of your computer.
How it works?
- take one of apps (mentioned below these lines) and set your longer (working) period to 25 minutes
- set your short break (pause) frame to 5 minutes
- set long break after each 3-4 iterations of previous two steps (1., 2.)
During pause period you can stand up and exercise little bit. Go for short walk to kitchen for a water or tea and come back to new working period.
During long pause period you can read some article, book or make some walk outside with your dog.
Important rule: don't get easily distracted during your working period. It's up to you, how you spend your time, but this technique works only if you are able to divide your working (no distractions like Facebook or Reddit) / pause (fun) time frames.
Free applications to help you start
Mac
- Be Focused - Focus timer which will stay in your menu tray and help you with your work time / pause management
Windows
- Box by box - app from Microsoft, which is compatible with Pomodoro technique
Do you know some other apps for Pomodoro technique or productivity? Please write them down to comments and don't forget to vote, if you like this :)
Have a nice more productive day!