Plan Ahead but Focus on the Tasks at Hand
It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time. — Winston S. Churchill
It is easy to find tons of articles or blog posts about organization skills or time management skills that suggest and instruct students or employees to plan ahead by using To-do list apps or planner. But it is not enough to be productive by just knowing what the due days are and assigning the whole project and workload into each day, it is also important to focus on what the tasks you are doing.
The Stress of Simply Planning Ahead
As a collage students, I used to write down the homework and incoming exams, quizzes, tests, as well as due date for essays, assignments, and projects in a piece of paper in chronological order.
By doing so, I usually felt that there were a lot of things to do and it seemed like that I was run out of time by looking at those incoming due dates, which set a lot of pressure on me, even though I assigned the workload into each day in advance.
Sometimes, I can not control myself to not think about other tasks. I even questioned myself that should I do this task first or is there enough time for me to finish the revision for next exam.
Being distracted by those kind of questions, not only slows me down and decreases the productivity, but also set a lot of pressure on myself.
Pomodoro Technique
However, I have found a method that a lot of study Youtubers have applied in their live streaming which is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s named the Pomodoro Technique.
There are several matters worthy of note that during using this technique to be more productive and relief yourself from worrying about not be capable to finish all the tasks on time.
- Break down the long-term task into small tasks.
- Customize your own time length for a Pomodoro period.
- Assign a balanced amount of tasks for each Pomodoro period.
- Make yourself a comfortable and suitable place to work.
- Stay focus on the tasks on hand for that short Pomodoro period.
- Give yourself some rewards or conduct a relax activity after finish a whole task.
Reflection
1.TIME PERIOD
I chose a mobile app available on iOS named Focus Keeper to apply this technique. I tired several 25 minute pomodoro sections and several 50 minute pomodoro sections on Saturday.
And then I found out that when I was using the 25 minute pomodoro, I always hoped that I could have more time to keep working on the questions and the reading that I was working on when the 25 minute section alarm ringed.
And when I was using 50 minute section, I felt that I did not finish as much amount of tasks as I was using the 25 minute one. The longer term studying decreased my productivity and also made me feel tired and less energetic.
I find out that it is really important to customize a time section that you feel comfortable. The time section may differ from people to people depended on their capacity of staying focus. For myself, I would prefer to use the 25 minute pomodoro section to keep myself being productive and energetic.
2.CHOOSE A SUITABLE PLACE
The main strategy of this technique is to pick up a comfortable and suitable place and set up a comfortable focusing time period for yourself. I choose three different places to apply this technique, Silverman library in Capen Hall which is one of the library of my university, the living room in my house and the bedroom of my house.
Neither in library nor in bedroom that I finished my assigning tasks. The table and seat in Silverman library are not as comfortable as the study places at home. In addition, the sounds and the excessively close distance between one and another makes me feel uncomfortable. However, in the bedroom, it is way too comfortable for me to study. And there are a lot of distractions like my comfy bed.
I like the studying table in my living room the most. I even put a humidifier, a beautiful pen holder filled with all the study supplies that I love, a white board with my to-do list along with me. Every time I sit in front of my desk, I feel relaxed and delighted. Studying in such a comfortable place without distractions makes me more energetic and productive. Even sometimes I felt tried, I will feel relief and happy immediately by looking at the lovely decoration in my table.
3.Rewards
It is not only important to make a best use of the time that you are studying ot working , but also important to know how to take an advantage from the time that you are not staying focused.
I usually prepared myself a cup of tea or coffee during the relax time. But there are a lot of more that you are can do, for example, doing a 5 minute yoga pose, eating a piece of cookie or a kind of fruit, checking emails or social media. You can do anything that will allow you jump out of the work you just did and give yourself a little bit rewards for completing a task. By doing so , you will feel less stress and more energetic and happier to begin your next task.
Next Step of Plan
After discuss how to be less stress and more productive during the working period, I want to focus more on what I can do during the relax time or the time after I finish one task to relieve stress. I will do some research and discuss it more on my following blog posts.
