Eat that frog with a Pomodoro

Iftikhar Zaeem
Aug 25, 2017 · 2 min read

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” — Jackson Brown Jr.

When you find yourself stressed with your pending work, it might be tempting to “give up” on some of the assigned work but if you want to get back on track quickly then I have a very interesting yet simple technique to follow.

“If the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long.” — Brian Tracy

Your frog is the task that will have the greatest impact on achieving your goals, and the task that you are most likely to procrastinate starting.

Did you ever heard a time management technique named “Pomodoro”? Well I’m sure most of us aren’t familiar with this kind of thing. It’s an effective practice to get things done by stop doing anything that isn’t the priority at that moment. In this technique, we chunk our work into small time intervals say 25 minutes each. Set up an alarm of 25 minutes and start doing work without being interrupted by anyone. After the interval, take 3–5 minutes break and then get back to other parts of the task.

I had incorporated this technique and I was really surprised to see the outcomes that my efficiency had been increased almost twice. I did somehow disperse my Gratification Monkey (term used by Tim Urban in a TED Talk explaining the thing which keeps us away of not being proactive) by keeping in mind the consequences of not meeting the deadlines. It’s another effective tip to avoid procrastination.

I’ve learnt an exciting new thing that help me to make myself meet the deadlines. And to further enhance the experience, bribe yourself with some kind of reward like, to play game, eat something, surfing Facebook after getting things done.

Cheers and Enjoy!

)
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade