As small business owners and solopreneurs, I know you are busy. You also are probably wearing multiple hats. You might be CEO, head of marketing, head of design, head of customer service, and more all rolled into one! With all those competing demands, it’s easy to get distracted by an email that pops in your inbox. And, without realizing it, suddenly one email turns into 2 hours of digging through your inbox and not accomplishing what you hoped to with your morning. That’s where the Pomodoro Technique comes in as a great strategy for distraction. (It’s a strategy I personally use for both work and chores around my apartment!)
The classic Pomodoro Technique involves setting a timer for 25 minutes and doing deep focus work on a task of your choice. After the timer goes off, you can take a 5-minute break. Then, repeat the process another three times until about 2 hours have passed. After 2 hours, go ahead and take a longer break. It’s called ‘Pomodoro’ (Italian for tomato) after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer the creator used.
Pomodoro works as an anti-procrastination strategy because it makes large tasks feel less daunting. Getting through an entire list of prospects, for example, sounds like a herculean task. But spending 25 minutes on that task and then taking five minutes to brew some coffee? That doesn’t sound so bad.
The other great thing about Pomodoro is it encourages you to focus on what really matters. 25 minutes of dedicated focus without worrying about your inbox or your phone. It’s amazing what you can get done in 25 minutes.
While this is technically breaking the Pomodoro rules, I often find that once I’m in the zone working on something, I skip right over my 5-minute break to continue building momentum on the project I’m working on. But psychologically, knowing I have that 5-minute break around the corner if I need it is a great way to work through more challenging tasks.
I also love that the Pomodoro Technique is extremely accessible—as long as you have some sort of clock, you can use it. While traditionally it was used with a kitchen timer, you can use a timer on your phone, or one of the many apps developed for this purpose. I’m a fan of the app called “Forest.” It’s a Pomodoro app where a little animated plant grows as you focus.
To use this with LACRM, I recommend putting a “Pomodoro” block on your calendar every week for some distraction-free, focused time to complete your tasks.
So the next time you are staring at your inbox, lost in a bunch of emails that don’t really matter, start your Pomodoro timer and instead pick out the task on your task report that is the most urgent and focus on that for 25 minutes. You’ll feel more accomplished at the end of those 25 minutes than if you have let yourself get lost in the never-ending pings being sent your way by your phone and inbox!
Let me know in the comments below if you use the Pomodoro Technique. Or if not—what are your favorite time management techniques?