Let a Pomodoro Stop Your Procrastination

We’ve talked about procrastination before. It can occur for many reasons, from lack of motivation to simply just not feeling in the mood.

Some people put procrastination down to laziness – I don’t agree with that. It’s usually because you have a task to face that feels daunting, whatever its size. One of the best ways to approach a challenging task is to break it down into small chunks that are easier to focus on and complete. Here’s a particularly good chunking technique to help you break down those projects into manageable proportions.

Using my 3 Fs Framework – Focus, Flag and Forget alongside that chunking process helps you drill down into what’s important and needs to be focused on, flagged for later, or either forgetting or delegating to others.

In fact, the 3 Fs Framework doesn’t just help you to carry out important tasks. It even helps when you’re feeling overwhelmed by certain situations.

Check Your Purpose

When things in general are feeling hard, whether a huge new task or for some other reason, it often helps to check in with your original purpose. Ask yourself if you can remember what your purpose was that made you want to start this project, business or job in the first place.

It could be that your purpose needs adjusting. Then, once you have that refreshed purpose clarity, you’ll feel far more positive and motivated to get on with what needs doing. There’s a simple exercise that will help you; contact me at ian@ianrose.co.uk for more information.

Then, once you’ve clarified your purpose, keep this Action Equation in mind:

Inspiration + Motivation – Procrastination = Achievement

The Action Equation is about getting things done. Because your purpose is linked to your inspiration and motivation, once you’ve nailed what your purpose is, it’s far easier to stop procrastinating. Then, hey presto! Achievement occurs.

So, now that you’re feeling motivated for action and ready to face your tasks, if there’s still the slightest bit of overwhelm, get your little red Pomodoro Kitchen Timer out!

The Pomodoro® Technique

I’m using this myself at the moment and finding it incredibly helpful.

With so much going on in the world as well as at work, my head is full of the Ukrainian/Russian war and the awful situation for so many people.

I’m doing lots of coaching, too, which is great! Until I realise that I’ve lost track of other essential workday tasks. Like sorting my accounts for the accountant, talking to the team about progress, and keeping in touch with clients.

So, even though I already have plenty of techniques to help with focus and reduce procrastination, when I heard of the Pomodoro® Technique I had to give it a go. This is how it works:

• Choose a task and decide what the success of it looks like
• Break it down into chunks as described above
• Set your timer for 25 minutes and focus on getting as much done as possible in that time
• Then, take a break for a full five minutes. Stand up, move about, stretch. Make a cuppa, chat with a colleague
• Repeat four times
• After the fourth one, instead of five-minutes, you take a 30-minute break

So, you’re chunking your day into segments, having longer breaks, and yet you’re achieving more! This Pomodoro technique is really helping me to work through my to-do list and get the jobs done.

There’s an app for it, too. Go to your App store of choice, type in ‘Pomodoro’, and you’ll find a number of them. Some are free, some you need to pay for. Whichever you choose, it should really help you stop the procrastination and achieve far more.

Let me know if it works for you.

Trainers at the Front Door

And finally, another technique – I call it my ‘Putting my Trainers at the Front Door’ approach. Doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue, but this is a really helpful exercise if you have a challenging or boring job on your to do list tomorrow. Especially if, like me, you wake up in the morning and want to start on the shiny, fun stuff rather than the boring work that needs doing.

When I was competing in Olympic level Judo, I used to hate running. But I had to do it as part of my training. So, the night before, I’d put my trainers at the front door to remind myself that I had to run the next morning before doing anything else. Next morning, I’d have to step (or trip!) over them, so I may as well put them on and go for a run.

So, start that boring job the evening before; keep the document or email open so that when you fire up your PC the next morning, it’s the first thing you see. That way, your brain should stop you doing the ‘shiny, fun thing’ and ensure you do the boring job first. The shiny thing will still be there!