Created By – Stuart Turnbull & Bart Hennin
Intro:
Inside this short free guide, we’re going to reveal an amazingly simple technique we’ve been using to get much more done in much less time…Using tomatoes!
Yes, tomatoes. This works. One of the biggest barriers to success in any online business is time or lack of it. Whether you are doing (or wanting to do) KDP publishing, Etsy selling, course creation, or anything else, finding enough time to implement a project is KEY.
Time… We never seem to have enough of it! But, believe it or not, we have more of it than we think.
Below, we reveal a simple, tested and proven technique that you can use to beat procrastination, improve your focus, and not only find more time but get more done in that time!
And do it… 1 tomato at a time. Read on.
The Technique:
It’s called the Pomodoro Technique (pomodoro is Italian for “tomato”). The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the late 1980s by then university student Francesco Cirillo. Cirillo was struggling to keep up with his studies and needed a way to keep himself focused. He thus invented this technique.
Since then, several scientific studies have confirmed the effectiveness of this simple time management system. The advantages are…
• It’s simple
• It fights boredom
• It staves off stress & fatigue
• It sustains motivation
• It increases focus & reduces distractions
• It keeps you organized and in control
The secret to doing more in less time is to break your time into blocks or units. We often think of time as an abstract immaterial thing. Instead, we need to start thinking of our time as a currency. The Pomodoro Technique replaces hours with ‘ tomatoes’ . It may seem silly at first, but millions of people swear by the life-changing power of this mind shift.
By thinking of blocks of time as ‘tomatoes’, we subconsciously attach a VALUE to our time… Time becomes a currency that we “spend” and thus we can now think more about how to spend that currency much more efficiently.
Specifically, the podomoro method asks you to alternate focused work sessions with frequent short breaks to promote sustained concentration and stave off mental fatigue.
Here are the steps:
HINT: I like to use a Google timer… It beeps when the timer is done.
- Get your ‘To-Do’ list and pick a single task.
- Set a 25-minute timer (1 pomodoro);
- Work on your task until the time is up.
- Take a 5-min break (I play Microsoft Solitaire but getting up and walking and stretching is good too). HINT: I like to use a 2nd Google timer opened in a 2nd browser window for my 5min breaks.
- Every 4 pomodoros, take a longer 15-20 min. break.
Then repeat! Don’t worry about the outcome. Just take it one pomodoro at a time.
There’s a bit more to it (as I’ll reveal below) but the above steps form the core of this time management method.
The Pomodoro method also includes five rules for getting the most out of each of your 25-minute intervals…
- Break down complex projects. If a task requires more than four pomodoros, it needs to be broken down into smaller, actionable steps. Sticking to this one rule will help ensure you avoid becoming overwhelmed. It’s easier and more rewarding to complete a series of small tasks rather than one big task.
- Group small tasks together. This rule is the antithesis of rule 1. Any tasks that will take less than one pomodoro should be combined with other simple tasks to add up to a full pomodoro. For example, “Pay rent bill online”, “set vet appointment,” and “answer 2 emails” could go together into one pomodoro.
- Pomodoros cannot be shortened. Once a pomodoro is set, the timer must ring. Consider the pomodoro is an indivisible unit of time that cannot be broken, especially not to check incoming emails, chats, texts, or Facebook posts. Any ideas, tasks, requests, or other interruptions that come up should be taken note of and returned to later on another pomodoro.
If you finish your given task before the timer goes off. Use the rest of your time for polishing, reviewing, overlearning, improving a skill, or figuring out a more efficient way to do this task in future.
TIP: Have a list of tiny tasks on hand to fill in any spare minutes in a pomodoro should you complete the task early.
- Deal with unavoidable interruptions. In the event of an unavoidable disruption, deal with it, then, take your five-minute break and then resume your task under a new pomodoro.
TIP: You should also track any unavoidable interruptions as they occur and consider ways to avoid them in future sessions.
- Track your results: Track your accomplishments in terms of how many pomodoros each task or project took. Humans chronically under-estimate the time needed to complete tasks. By tracking the actual time taken to complete a project, you can
more accurately predict the time needed for future projects.
Between dealing with and taking steps to avoid interruptions, tracking your results, and using spare pomodoro time to figure out how to complete tasks more efficiently, you will find yourself getting more done in less time with considerably less stress and you’ll be able to focus much better for longer!
This method also forces you to organize and ‘prioritize’ tasks so you get done what’s truly important and unproductive effort is eliminated. The result is you get more done with less effort, less stress, and much less procrastination.
With each pomodoro, you are accomplishing something meaningful and this keeps you motivated to keep moving forward!
This method also makes you acutely more aware of where your time goes and so helps you to make the most of your time, even when it’s scarce!
Why The Pomodoro Technique is So Effective:
Research has shown that procrastination has little to do with laziness or lack of discipline. Rather, humans put things off to avoid negative feelings. It’s uncomfortable and even scary to face a big task or project. This is especially true if the task requires new learning or involves uncertainty. We fear failure.
So, we find ourselves turning to Facebook, Netflix or video games to boost our mood, if only temporarily. Or, we unconsciously find other trivial non-productive things to do that take up our time.
In the extreme, it can become a vicious downward spiral… We avoid the task, seek a non-productive mood booster instead (why do you think cat videos on You Tube are so popular?), return to the task with even more fear, procrastinate again, and onwards.
Luckily, studies have also shown that the way to break out of the avoidance cycle is to shrink whatever it is you’re putting off down into a tiny, unintimidating first step. For example, instead of sitting down to create a whole book, maybe just take 5 minutes to create any part of that book. Still too hard? Try just sitting down and editing 1 paragraph (or do 1 image or construct a single text box). Often once you’ve started, you’ll find you’ll continue (in this case to a full pomodoro or even several pomodoros.
Breaking big projects into a series of little tasks also means you stay hyper focused. You only need worry about doing the one next small thing rather than becoming overwhelmed by the enormity of the total project you are ultimately taking on.
The Pomodoro Technique not only efficiently organizes your time but it also prevents procrastination because it forces you to break down your big tasks, projects, or goals into a series of 25-minute mini-tasks. Plus, by avoiding interruption, you stay hyper-focused.
In my younger days when I was in sales, my first successful sales job in the late 1980s was selling phone plans door to door. I also managed and trained others to do the same. It was 100% commission and it paid very well but there were no set hours and thus it was hard to motivate people to go to work! …
My solution?… I would simply say to my people (and to myself on days I lacked motivation), “Just go knock on 1 door… Then you can take the day off if you want”. You goal is to knock on 1 door a day.
Guess what? No one quit after knocking one door! They’d keep going! Instead of being stressed over facing a full day of door knocking, they’d just say, ‘OK, just 1 more door’… Small tasks are easier to face than large tasks!
The Pomodoro Technique on Steroids:
The Pomodoro Technique becomes even more powerful if you have multiple tasks or projects going on at the same time.
Because you are now assigning pomodoros (‘blocks of time’) to specific tasks within a project, it’s an easy extension to assign different groups of pomodoros to multiple projects!
Say for example, that your goal is to add a specific number of KDP low content books to Amazon (in a specific niche) AND also to build (or expand) an Etsy shop to offer related printable products or POD (“Print On Demand”) products (in that same niche).
You could have blocks of time (groups of pomodoros) assigned for your KDP tasks and a separate set of pomodoros assigned for your Etsy tasks; say, 2 blocks of 3 hrs. (6 pomodoros), one on Mondays, and Thursdays for KDP and 4 pomodoros (2-hour blocks) assigned Saturday mornings and maybe Tuesdays. This is just an example. You could obviously assign time blocks in any way you wish.
The point is, you can assign multiple projects their own sets of pomodoros!
Some Bonus Tips:
Here are some bonus tips for getting even more out of the pomodoro method. These things will increase your productivity and efficiency even more so.
- Set goals – Setting specific goals is a great way to keep yourself on track for any project. Remember to set S.M.A.R.T. goals. “S.M.A.R.T.” stands for the 5 essential characteristics your goal(s) should have. Each goal you set should be
Specific Measurable Achievable Rewarded and Time-Bound
- Reward yourself – If your goal is specific and measurable, this allows you to know if it has been achieved. If it hasn’t, you can learn from the experience, go back, and modify your methods. If you have achieved your goal, REWARD yourself!
Small goals get small rewards (if I lose 8 pounds this month, I get a piece of cheesecake), and big goals get larger rewards (if I lose 30 pounds in 6 months, I get a steakhouse prime rib dinner with all the fixings).
Another example might be, “If I get 4 KDP books a month published for 3 straight months, I get to binge watch that new series on Netflix” or “When my Etsy shop hits 1000 sales, I get a night out with my friends, 5000 sales? I get a spa day”.
Of course, you would choose your own rewards according to what motivates you but you get the idea.
- Separate high energy tasks from low energy tasks – This is one most people miss. Separate your high energy tasks from your low energy tasks. Schedule your high energy tasks for times when your energy is at its peak (usually mornings) and schedule your low energy (easier or more routine) tasks for times of the day when your concentration is less than peak.
This can vary. Many people are in the situation where they must work full time or tend to other responsibilities when they are at peak energy. In that case you might schedule high energy tasks for the weekend and leave the lower energy tasks for weekday evenings. Or get up early and do some high energy tasks before work or before the kids are up and then complete lower energy tasks after the kids are bedded down in the evening.
There are lots of options…
Conclusion:
The Pomodoro Technique is as powerful as it is liberating. It allows you greater productivity, better focus, less stress, and keeps you better motivated.
Since you are scheduling tasks in 25-minute intervals, even if you have little time, you can still work out a flexible schedule and get things done.
Now instead of saying, “I spent an hour each evening working on my online business last month and I’m nowhere”, you’ll instead be saying…
“I assigned 2 pomodoros a day every 2nd day last month and I
• Started that course on KDP publishing
• Did niche research and found 3 sub-niches I’m interested in
• Finished that course
• Found related niches on Etsy
• Looked at other books in the niche and other sellers on Etsy
• Decided titles for 3 books
• Laid out my ideas for my first KDP book in the niche
• Started my book interior
• Made my book cover in CANVA
• Finished my book interior
• Added my front-end pages
• Improved my cover
• Changed my interior
• Made some templates to reduce the time needed to create future books and printables faster
• Created some Etsy printables based on my pages
By end of month, I still have nothing published yet but I’m now much closer!”
See how much more motivating the pomodoro method is?
…And how it can keep you on track?
And it can be used not only for business but for ANY goal… I hate exercise…but to take 25 minutes and go for a walk or peddle a bike?… Yes, I can do that!
Happy Planning! Stuart and Bart
PS – It took 9 pomodoros to complete this guide!
http://stuart-turnbull.com
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Clogherhead Louth .
IRELAND
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