
Boost Your Productivity with the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro technique is similar to the time blocking method that tells you to divide your whole workday into smaller blocks separated by small breaks.
Productivity has become such a buzzword in the digital age that often, we forget what the word really means. Productivity is a measure of effectiveness - the rate of output per unit of input. So, for example, employees input 8 hours of their time, five days a week. Or do they? Studies find that the average employee is only productive for two to 3 hours a day. That statistic might sound alarming, but it's not so surprising when you learn where that missing time goes.
In other words, being unproductive isn't typically a sign of laziness or incompetence; even the most industrious and skilled employees consistently struggle to reach optimal productivity levels. Instead, low productivity levels are usually a sign of a workplace that isn't implementing the tools and techniques needed to help employees thrive.
Several time management tools and techniques are available on the market, but they all aim to achieve the same goal - increasing focus. For example, the Pomodoro technique has become a popular way of managing time in the workplace. This technique involves setting a timer for 25 minutes, then having a 5-minute break, and repeating. For every 25 minutes of focused work you complete, you mark it on a piece of paper. After you reach 3 or 4 cycles, you start extending breaks to 15 minutes. The idea here is that the longer you focus, the more your attention span starts to tire, so the more time you need to recover.
The key benefit of time-based tools is that they vastly cut down on distractions. For example, people are much less likely to check an email right now if they know they're having a break soon.
It's also a great idea to combine these tools with other distraction-busting software. For example, muting notifications from email or IM or blocking access to apps you don't need. If checking your phone is a habit that gets in the way of productivity, you can also download apps like Forest. Forest allows you to grow a virtual tree in a virtual glade, but your tree dies if you leave the app to do anything else.
Prioritizing work tasks is paramount, and lucky, prioritization is now a well-understood science. Here are some things you can do to maximize task prioritization:
The key to setting realistic goals is communication. Managers should ask employees what timeline is realistic rather than creating an arbitrary one. Employees would think carefully about how long each step in the process will take before answering.
Boosting productivity is primarily about developing effective habits and being consistent. If you want to be a productive employee or have productive employees working for you, you can't leave anything to chance. Utilizing the right tools and techniques is how you produce more while saving time.
The Pomodoro technique is similar to the time blocking method that tells you to divide your whole workday into smaller blocks separated by small breaks.
MoSCoW method is a productivity technique for easily dividing tasks into specific categories to prioritize important tasks according to their deadlines.
SMART Goal is a versatile technique to boost your productivity. When you have specific goals to achieve, you become more energized to complete those smaller tasks. And the satisfaction of completing smaller tasks drives you towards progress.