Tag: Choice (Page 1 of 2)

The Pomodoro Technique

April 17, 2025 / / 0 Comments

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It’s designed to help you focus on tasks in short, manageable intervals while taking regular breaks to maintain productivity and reduce burnout. The name “Pomodoro” comes from the Italian word for tomato, referring to the tomato-shaped kitchen timer Cirillo used during his university studies.

Here’s how the Pomodoro Technique works:

  1. Choose a Task: Select a single task you want to accomplish. This could be anything from writing a report to studying a new topic.
  2. Set the Timer for 25 Minutes: Use a timer to set a 25-minute interval. This 25-minute work session is called a “Pomodoro.”
  3. Work on the Task: Focus on the task at hand without any distractions until the timer rings. If you get interrupted or distracted, either end the Pomodoro or postpone the interruption until the Pomodoro is complete.
  4. Take a Short Break: When the timer rings, take a short break, typically 5 minutes. Use this time to stretch, walk around, or do something relaxing.
  5. Repeat: After your break, start another Pomodoro. Continue this cycle of work and breaks.
  6. Take a Longer Break: After every four Pomodoros, take a longer break, usually 15-30 minutes. This longer break helps to refresh your mind and body.

Benefits of the Pomodoro Technique:

  • Improved Focus: By working in short, focused intervals, you can minimize distractions and increase concentration.
  • Reduced Burnout: Regular breaks help prevent mental fatigue and keep you energized throughout the day.
  • Better Time Management: The technique helps you become more aware of how you spend your time and can improve your estimation of how long tasks take.
  • Enhanced Productivity: The structured approach can lead to more efficient work habits and increased productivity.

Tips for Effective Use:

  • Use a Physical Timer: While digital timers are convenient, a physical timer can serve as a visual reminder to stay focused.
  • Track Your Pomodoros: Keep a record of your Pomodoros to see how many you complete in a day and to identify patterns in your productivity.
  • Protect Your Pomodoros: Make sure to minimize interruptions during your work intervals. Let colleagues or family know that you’re focusing on work and will be available during your breaks.
  • Adjust as Needed: While the traditional Pomodoro is 25 minutes, you can adjust the length of your work intervals and breaks to suit your needs and work style.

The Pomodoro Technique is simple yet powerful, making it a popular choice for anyone looking to improve their productivity and time management skills.

Source: Mistral AI

Be like water

June 17, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
Bruce Lee

Giftedness

December 15, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Giftedness is not what you do or how hard you work.
It is who you are.
You think differently.
You experience life intensely.
You care about injustice.
You seek meaning.
You appreciate and strive for the exquisite.
You are painfully sensitive.
You are extremely complex.
You cherish integrity.
Your truth-telling has gotten you in trouble.
Should 98% of the population find you odd, seek the company of those who love you just the way you are.
You are not broken.
You do not need to be fixed.
You are utterly fascinating.
Trust yourself!

Dr. Linda Kreger Silverman

The cracked pot

June 23, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I got this classic story from a friend, it’s great and makes us see cracks and flaws in a different way.

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One pot had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”

The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day while we walk back, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”

Moral:
Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

Turning 2008 into 80-20

December 17, 2007 / / 0 Comments

I know we are in the middle of December but with holidays coming up there are not that many workdays left of 2007. Which means I take a shoot at what I intend to do next year, and how.

Chris Garrett posted about The 80/20 Rule of Effort. It is about summing up 2007 and looking forward into 2008. Chris writes:

One conclusion I have to draw from this year that I will take into the next is how I have squandered my time.

Squander (waste; spend thoughtlessly; throw away) is a harsh word but I am guilty of the same with some of my time. It could have been used better and that is where the 80-20-rule comes in. The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule) states that, for many phenomena, 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the efforts. In other words, find the 20% of your work that really makes a difference and cut down on the other 80%.

Benjamin On WOWNDADI posts 10 Tips To Gain You a Better 08. That is a great list and I will comment on some of them.

1. Set good goals.
This is important and so is to follow up on them, are we heading in the right direction and in the desired speed?

2. Quit stuff.
This is where 80-20 can help us, we can quit more than we think and spend that time on our core issues instead.

6. Commit to learning something new.
I believe in life long learning so this is a must for me.

And what do I intend to focus on during 2008?
I recently finished a course and became a professional coach. Coaching is my baby for next year and where most of my efforts will be focused.

I will set off time for my blogging efforts with the intention to post regularly at my three main blogs. The fourth one, doodling, is for fun and requires no set schedule.

On a more personal level I intend to enjoy life, be in the here and now.

Catch the trade winds in your sails

November 27, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Brian Clark at Copyblogger has a very interesting post titled The Nasty Four-Letter Word That Keeps You From Writing that hooked me because I am in a situation where I have a chance to really change what I do for a living. Brian writes:

based on my personal experience, there’s a nasty demon hiding behind the excuses we make. This four-letter word represents a condition we don’t like to admit to ourselves, much less utter in polite conversation.

Yep, it’s the “F” word.

Fear.

Fear affects us all more than we care to admit

Brian’s article is about fear in connection with writing but his post is valid in many areas of life. He mentions five different fears, the key ones (to me) are fear of failure and fear of risk.

Under fear of failure Brian writes:

Countless psychological studies have shown that the fear of failure is the number one barrier to personal success. We fear failure because we don’t separate tasks from ourselves, and therefore our self-esteem is at risk every time we attempt to do anything we really want to achieve.

If we try and fail then we can get up and try again. But if we do not even try then we lock ourselves in where we are now.

This is a quote worth remembering:
Failure seldom stops you. What stops you is the fear of failure.

In the part about fear of risk Brian writes:

Is it really better to be safe than sorry? Sometimes, yes. But when it comes to your writing dreams and goals, being safe is a fate worse than death. Not only do your dreams die, but you get to live the rest of your life knowing it.

Remove the word ‘writing’ before dreams and this statement goes anywhere. Dreams are nice but until they turn into actions they remain dreams.

A while back I came across a quote that says a lot:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. (Mark Twain)

The feeling of safety makes us often hesitate and take the easy way out (stay in the harbor, no risk, no failure) and not take the exciting way (leave for the high sea, take risks). I think I shall go and check my sails…

Butterflies First Live In Cocoons

April 6, 2007 / / 0 Comments

I found more interesting things to read at “Masterful Living Newsletter”. This post is about the importance of having periods of rest, to recharge and get ready for the next step in life. In “Butterflies First Live In Cocoons” Christen Murphy Resmo starts like this:

We all must have restful periods of incubation and calm. You’re meant to enjoy this time to relax and quietly grow, or simply catch your breath a while. Inactivity helps you gather energy so that you can take yourself to a whole new level in life. You’ll need these stores of energy so that, in the right time and place, you’ll be able to take off and fly high.

I agree that it is very important to take time outs, to rest a while and recharge.

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