Eat that frog using Pomodoro:
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method based on 25-minute stretches of focused work broken by five-minute breaks. Longer breaks are typically 15 to 30 minutes after four consecutive work intervals.
I had never heard this technique before. So, I was recently introduced to the Pomodoro technique of time management & productivity. I was given a task by Amal Academy to complete any task using this technique.
So i applied this technique to complete my task “Amal course” which i was assigned to complete.
# My Experience
- First 25 min interval
I started exactly at 11:37, set the timer for 25 minutes and started the course. In the first minutes when i started i got my first gratification monkey 🐵 i should go drink water from downstairs before starting to hydrate myself. But then i looked at the timer and i controlled myself to do it in my 5 min break so i focused and started doing my work again. And as I was doing my work I was disturbed by the message received from my SIM which I had not turned off the notification I only turned off the notification of the social media so I quickly turned off the notifications and started doing my work again. While working I got disturbed by the sound from my friend’s phone which was constantly disturbing me.I was trying to focus and ignore but it was disturbing me so I stood up and kept a distance from him to minimize the sound and again started focusing on my work. After sometime the timer rang🔔 and I was in the middle of a course video and I quickly closed the video and took a break.
During my break I was quite frustrated i got up and went downstairs to drink water then i lay down on my bed then i checked the WhatsApp status📱 at the last minute.
- Second 25 min interval
I again set the timer for 25 minutes and started doing my course this time i was feeling more calm and fresh so i started the course. This time I was able to focus quite well than before. This time when the timer rang🔔 I was again in the middle of the video but this time I didn’t close the video immediately I completed my video and after completing the video I took a 5-minute break.
In the 5-minute break, I took a deep breath to calm my mind then I scrolled Instagram📱.
- Third 25-min interval
After the break, i started the timer again. This time i was feeling quite good and the course videos were also interesting, valuable, and funny and I was enjoying it. After some time i got a gratification monkey🐵 of discussing the plan to eat out tonight with my friend but I controlled it and again started my course after some time i started losing my focus so i checked the time left so 16 minutes left. So i took a deep breath and started doing my course again. The timer rang🔔.
I took my 5 minute break this time i was so overwhelmed with questions from the course and was feeling very stressed so I stood up and took a deep breath to calm and i talked with my friend to refresh my mind i checked the WhatsApp status📱.
- Fourth 25 min Interval
I started the timer again. The break really helped to calm my mind but after some time I remembered I had to attend an online meeting at 2 o’clock. So I checked the time it was 1: 10 pm so i checked my course progress and it was 60 percent. I got a gratification monkey gratification monkey 🐵that I should leave the work here I can’t complete it before 2 so i should chill and see the course after the meeting. But then i looked at the Pomodoro timer and saw that 20 minutes were left. So i controlled my gratification monkey and i said to myself " Do whatever you can in this 20 min" so I started doing my work i again lost focus so i checked how much time was remaining and there was 2 minutes left so I started working again after that timer rang🔔. The time was 1:35.
Then I took a break breath down deep breath, drink water and check WhatsApp for meeting updates.
- Fifth 25 min Interval
I started the Pomodoro timer the time on the clock was 1: 40. I checked the course progress and it was 80% done. Then i again got a gratification monkey🐵 to stop here and start again after the meeting and my thoughts were “don,t worry there is little work left we can do it after the meeting”. But i again looked at the timer controlled myself . So i started again and astonishingly i finished the course 8 min before my timer rang. I felt very happy to complete my course. After that i attended the meeting on time.
#Conclusion
I was able to complete my task to complete my task in five intervals equal to 2.5 hours. Normally i would have spent at least 4 hours completing such a course. It helped me beat my procrastination.
# Challenges and learning
- The first hard time I faced was to start the first timer and then try to focus in the first interval but the focus gradually increased.
- Disturbance from the surrounding environment made me lose focus.
- Social media especially scrolling instagram, tiktok use in break distracted my mind during the initial minutes of the pomodoro 25 min timer.
- It was hard to focus when the task was about to end that is when i normally procrastinate and delay wasting my time.
# Future self improvement steps
- Saved the pomodoro timer in my phone.
- # just start by turning on the timer.
- Before this arrange and prepare before starting the things needed for the task like pen, notebook, charged phone etc
- Sitting in a peaceful and quiet environment to minimize noise and interruptions.
- Focus on one task at a time.
- Avoiding social media use in breaks.
