What’s your Mount Everest? Part 3

Today Iet’s focus on building your daily tasks and scheduling them into your calendar so you can be more productive. At the end of the last article, I wrote about sending a reminder from your calendar to set up your weekly goals. When I get my reminder, I break the BIG ROCK goal into three smaller ones.

I write these goals on the whiteboard in my office so that I can start scheduling my calendar. I’ve created a short video on how to schedule your daily tasks. Please watch this video before reading anymore, and it will help you plan your week better.

Watched it? Awesome! Keep reading.

Another time management method I use is the Pomodoro Technique developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. These intervals are named pomodoros, from the Italian word pomodoro (tomato), after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used himself. The method is based on the idea that frequent breaks improve mental agility.

There are six stages in the technique:

1. Decide on the task to be done. Use the daily tasks you’ve just created using my video.
2. Set the pomodoro timer; 25 minutes is about right.
3. Work on the task until the timer rings. If a distraction pops into your head, write it down, but immediately get back on task.
4. After the timer rings, put a checkmark on a piece of paper.
5. If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (three to five minutes), then go back to Step 1.
6. Otherwise (i.e., after four pomodoros), take a longer break (15 to 30 minutes), reset your checkmark count to zero, then go to Step 1.

The goal of the technique is to minimize the impact of interruptions on your workflow. It's a great technique to help you focus on the task at hand.