How to beat procrastination pt. 6 - the kitchen timer

This common kitchen utensil can come in very handy to help beat procrastination

Does this ever happen to you?

You know you’ve got something you NEED to get done. But you freeze. You procrastinate. You just can’t get it done.

When this happens to me, I use a little kitchen timer and it works. Every. Single. Time.

The kitchen timer trick

The idea is simple. Get your kitchen timer (or your smartwatch, or your phone), and set a timer for 25 minutes.

Turn off your phone notifications, your browser with 78 open tabs, and start working on the thing. I like to set my phone on airplane mode while doing this.

Do nothing but the thing

For the set duration of the timer, you are allowed to do nothing but the thing you’ve been putting off.

After the timer goes off, you get a 5-minute break. You can do as many 25-minute focused blocks as you like, but after an hour of working, allow yourself a 10-minute break.

Knowing that you get a break after putting in the effort gives you a reward and something to look forward to. It’s a great boost in motivation, and taking regular breaks has been proven to increase productivity as well as focus and cognitive functions.

When I started doing these focused blocks of uninterrupted work, I was so surprised at the amount of work I could get done in so little time!

Pomodoro

This kitchen timer technique has been called the Pomodoro Technique.

It was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s when he started using a tomato-shaped timer from his kitchen. Pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato!

The Pomodoro technique is one of the simplest productivity methods I know. It is easy to implement and it has a huge impact on the amount of work I can produce in any single day.

Advanced: double your focus

When I need to work on a task that requires focus and I don’t want to be interrupted in my flow, I set the timer for 50 minutes, followed by a 10-minute break.

I say this is advanced because if you struggle with procrastination, starting with a 50-minute focused block can be intimidating. I would suggest you start small, with 25 minutes of something important but easy, to get the momentum going before attempting to raise the bar.

Next up?

Have you tried the Pomodoro Technique? Have you found it useful? What are your tips to beat procrastination? What should I cover in the next newsletter in this series? Let me know in the comments below!