Notes on Productivity

I am often asked how I am able to power through my tasks and get a lot done within a short period of time and honestly, there isn’t much to it. I’m gonna write this short post highlighting the methods I use to ramp up my productivity.

Photo by Jon Eckert on Unsplash

Disclaimer: I’m not claiming to know all about productivity and my adopted methods may or may not work for you so feel free to take it with a pinch of salt.

My Technique

There are two things I can’t do without while I’m working:

• A timer
• A note and a pen (This can be electronic if you like. I like striking things out *grin*)

Timer

If you’ve heard of the Pomodoro technique then you have an idea of what I’m about to get into. If you don’t, let me explain…

The Pomodoro Technique is basically a way to break work down into intervals, typically 25 minutes then followed by a short break (which is about 5 minutes). Then rinse and repeat.

The underlying principles are:

1. Decide on the task to be done and write it down
2. Focus on that task for the next 25 minutes
3. After the 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break
4. If the task is done, strike it out and pick another task to work on and start the 25-minute timer again
5. If the task is not done, continue chipping away at the task until the timer elapses.
6. Repeat

Reasons Why I Love The Pomodoro Technique

1. It helps me remain focused. I know what I’m supposed to be working on for the next 25 minutes and I pick at it until the timer elapses.
2. It helps me avoid procrastination. There’s a quote that says, To eat an elephant, take one bite at a time. When you decide to tackle your tasks in bursts of 25 minutes, its sort of like eating the “elephant” a bite at a time and you don’t get overwhelmed.
3. I’m a firm believer in “Little drops of water make a mighty ocean”. 25 minutes seems like a small amount of time to make any significant progress towards finishing your tasks but those 25 minutes accumulate and before you know it, you are done.

Note and Paper

For those who know me, I’m unwavering when it comes to writing things down. There are various reasons;

1. I like to see my progress. I date everything and when I’m bored, I go back and look over the progress I’ve made, the thought process I had when I was solving a particular issue and things like that.
2. I am very forgetful. If you work in an office then you are very accustomed to distractions. Writing things down helps me quickly remind myself of what it is I’m working on at the moment and I can quickly get back in the groove of things.
3. I love to strike things out. When I’m done with a task, I strike it out and that gives me some sort of satisfaction; dopamine boost if you will.
4. I like to think outside of my head and writing things down help me with that.

So there you have it. My two cents on productivity.