As I type this I’m listening to a tomato ticking on my desk! I’m blogging about my top ten time management techniques to celebrate the new edition of The Small Steps Guide to Goal Setting and Time Management. You can read the background here. A couple of days ago I gave you my number one time management technique. Here’s number two – as I’m away this week I’m resharing a post I wrote a while back.
Did you know that a tomato can change your life? You haven’t tasted tomatoes until you’ve eaten spaghetti pomodoro made with tomatoes grown on the side of Mount Vesuvius, which is what we did when we went to Pompei a few years back. I don’t speak Italian but because spaghetti pomodoro is one of my favourite dishes, I did figure out that the Pomodoro Technique had to do with tomatoes when I first saw the term – although I didn’t know why until I looked it up. Just in case you aren’t one of the millions of people who’ve tried it, there’s a quick run down below. You can find out more about the technique on the Pomodoro website – in fact you can learn the essentials in just a couple of minutes.
The Pomodoro Technique really can change your life. Take one kitchen timer – the original was shaped like a tomato, hence the name – time yourself for 25 minutes and avoid all distractions (including online ones) until the time is up, then take a break. (Here’s a post I wrote a while back about the importance of taking time off.) You can even buy your own tomato-shaped kitchen timer. I’ve been through several. Think of one 25 min session like a mini block or chunk of time. You can use these chunks to build a longer project and to motivate yourself to turn up and to focus distraction-free.
Let me know in the comments whether you enjoy using this technique.
More soon. Until then, happy writing,
Lou xx
P.S. Here’s the next post in the series – all about applying the pomodoro to a writing life.