Cucumbers and artichokes meet in a bar
Cucumber: Are you busy today?
Artichoke: Forget it. Nothing happens.
Cucumber: What's wrong? Didn't I assign you any work?
Artichoke: Yes! I was expected to finalize and deliver the new printing functionality. I planned to finish it today.
Cucumber: Did you do it?
Artichoke: No, they keep asking me to do this and that.
Cucumber: Are other things more important...or is the printing function more important?
Artichoke: I don't know. How to compare?
Cucumber: Then you haven’t finished the printing function or other important things?
Artichokes: How can you make so many in one day?
Cucumber: I’m not asking you to do so many things. I’m asking if there are any that have been completed. Just one piece is enough?
Artichoke: No, not a thing was done.
Cucumber: I suggest you try the Pomodoro Technique. Concentrate on something for 25 minutes,
Then take a short break and compare the other things you are doing with what you are doing. Whichever is more important, do the most important thing.
Artichoke: There is no other way, I will try it first!
At 20:00 on Tuesday, August 29th, the Chinese translator of "Illustrated Pomodoro Technique" and "Illustrated Single-Core Work Method" will be a guest in the live broadcast room of the Turing community video account to talk with you about [Helping 1 Million People Concentrate Time] Management Law], click on the card below to schedule a live broadcast, waiting for you~
1
before the start
To be able to focus, you have to resolutely put aside all distracting thoughts.
This book uses my personal experience of using the Pomodoro Technique to teach you the entire process of implementing this work method. You can see how it improved my work efficiency. In addition, the book also adds some research results on human brain thinking to reveal the principles of the Pomodoro Technique; it also includes several impacts of using this working method; and how to adjust and expand this working method as needed.
The opening chapter tells a few short stories and gives you a chance to try them out. I ask for hands-on exercises. The sooner you start, the better you can understand the entire book. At the end of this chapter, I will list some of the problems I have that have made me determined to control my time and energy. You may see yourself in these problems. My story begins with taking the bus.
2
Travel time
I live in a suburb of Stockholm. As a consultant, I usually work in my clients' large offices. The big office is located in the city center and there is a bus stop 100 meters from my house. Every morning the scene is exactly the same: I go to the station to wait for the bus, the bus comes, I get on the bus and sit in my accustomed seat. The drive to the city center takes about 25 minutes, and I always use this time to read some practical books related to work.
In these 25 minutes, it is impossible to drink coffee, watch TV, surf the Internet, or deal with one or two important things that suddenly come to mind, just like when you are reading at home. Moreover, I don't know most of the people I ride with. Occasionally I will say "hello" to a familiar face, but that's it, basically no disturbance.
The time I spend studying on the bus is relatively fixed, with a single activity and a single goal, but the results are amazing. I learn more on the bus in the morning than at any other time. I gave my book 100% of my attention, knowing that the bus driver would call me when I got to the stop.
I can't sit on the bus all day in order to achieve such learning efficiency, and neither can you. Fortunately, there's a better way. The Pomodoro Technique helps you divide each day into short segments, which are similar to the time spent on a car ride. You just need to determine the destination for your "little bus", set the alarm clock, and then focus on your work.
3
Pomodoro timer
Francesco Cirillo created the Pomodoro Technique in 1992 , but to start from the beginning, it goes back to the late 1980s, during his first few years at university. He once suffered from low efficiency, unable to complete his homework and unable to study. At the end of the world, there is always a bright future - thanks to a red round object that rings a timer: "So I made a bet with myself, took strong medicine, and despised myself and said: 'Can I study for a while? - Really study for 10 minutes. ?'I had to find a timing coach. Who would count the watch for me? Then I found it. It was a kitchen timer, shaped like a 'tomato' (that is, Pomodoro in Italian). In this way, I met my Pomodoro.”
The Pomodoro Technique can help you turn your enemy into a friend with time. You will no longer be full of anxiety because there is still an hour, a day, a week, or a month left. All you have to do is set a 25-minute Pomodoro timer, and then completely focus on the task at hand. Task. If the Pomodoro rings and the 25 minutes are up and the task is not completed, this does not mean failure. Instead, the ringtone is acknowledging the fact that you have been working continuously for an entire period of time.
What is the Pomodoro Technique? Simply put, make a list of what you want to do that day, set an alarm for 25 minutes, and start with the first thing. In addition, there must be daily reviews, making daily commitments, controlling interruptions, estimating the time required, etc. In this book I use myself as an example to show you how to use the Pomodoro Technique, including how to record your activities and how to single out the most important tasks.
4
Do It Yourself: Set a time slot for your event
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so start now: try completing activities within a specific time period. Take out a pen and paper and make a list of some to-do activities - what might you be doing right now if you hadn't taken a moment to read this book? You may be filling out a form for your child's school, you may be looking up some information online, you may be writing an important email, or doing some other transactional work.
Take a look at the tasks you wrote down. Which one is the most important? Which item do you most want to complete as soon as possible? Put the bookmark on this page, close the book, and follow these steps:
Turn on your kitchen timer and set the alarm for 10 minutes;
Concentrate on this particular task;
When the alarm clock rings, stop immediately, regardless of whether the task is completed or not;
Rest for 3 minutes, then open the book and continue reading.
How about it? In those 10 minutes just now, were you able to eliminate distracting thoughts and not have random thoughts? Do you check your watch often?
Usually in the Pomodoro Technique, the alarm is set for 25 minutes, which is used as a "time box". If you want, try reading the entire book this way: read in 25-minute intervals—using a kitchen timer, of course—and spend 3 minutes between each reading period. Rest and relax.
My great-great-grandfather Max
Max went to Berlin in the early 20th century to start a business and opened a company to produce clothing. The business was very large. Grandpa's success is due to his principles of life. His motto is: "One foot cannot dance two dances at the same time." In other words, do one thing at a time.
Whether it is this motto or the Pomodoro Technique, they are a firm refutation of the so-called "many things to do every day" - you must set boundaries for yourself. So, how do you allow yourself to do only the most important things? My approach to this is to analyze the real problem first, which is "what result do I want to achieve", and then focus on the activities that will bring about that result. Before I start working, I have to turn on the Pomodoro clock. The Pomodoro clock will ring later to remind me to stop and reconsider the activity I just focused on. Is it still the top priority?
Today, "attention management" is very popular, and Max is well-deserved to be a pioneer!
5
Why use the Pomodoro Technique
Now I will tell you how I use the Pomodoro Technique and see if you can follow the prescription. The previous state was that time suddenly disappeared for me, bang! At the end of the day, most of the things I originally planned to do were still the same. After serious self-reflection, I found out the context of some problems. I guess you are familiar with one or two of these questions. Here are some of the problems that prevent people from getting their jobs done. Later in this book, we will also talk about how to solve them with the correct application of the Pomodoro Technique.
Faced with complexity, it’s daunting. Tasks that are complex and cannot be completed within 25 minutes often cause procrastination. Procrastination always allows us to settle for less, but the problem doesn't go away. Don’t think about how complicated the task is, the important thing is to start and start again. Turn on the Pomodoro and you'll gain something within half an hour and be rewarded with rest.
Boring and trivial things take longer and longer. Unfinished work won't do you any good. Of course, cleaning up is usually boring. Don’t always think about how much work you have to do to complete the whole thing, but think about how long it actually takes to complete this Pomodoro. Complete it first and you'll be rewarded.
I have been busy with small things for a day, but I have not been able to do big things. The Pomodoro Technique requires planning every morning and assigning yourself a small number of activities for the day. Then before each Pomodoro, re-evaluate the priority of activities, and the most important to-do activity will appear on the paper. Make sure you're always doing what's most important and nothing else.
The deadline is pressing every step of the way. Working overtime until late and not taking a break on weekends will not be productive in the long run. Even if you are forced to work overtime, no matter how awkward it is, you will not be able to produce good results. The Pomodoro Technique uses short-term iterations of 25 minutes as a rhythm to help you establish a sustainable pace of development, rest at ease when taking a break, and concentrate on work.
When I return to work from a break, I can’t mentally adjust. Every morning when you first go to work or when you come back from lunch, time often slips away from you: before you can bring your mind back to work, it passes minute by minute. The Pomodoro Technique is action-oriented. Turning the Pomodoro clock is an action, obeying the bell is an action, and filling out the "Today's To-Do" form is an action. Habits become natural and make full use of the power of conditioned reflexes.
If you make the same mistake again and again, you will lose your memory. In order to avoid making the same mistakes the next day, the Pomodoro Technique requires three things to be done before the end of the day: recording, processing and visualization. These daily reviews are the key to improving personal processes. Learn every day and make progress every day. Another advantage of this is that you can apply the Pomodoro Technique according to the book at first. Once you understand your own working habits, you can make adjustments and form your own set of methods.
I didn't expect that it would take so long to do one thing. Split the activity into small projects to make it clearer. After estimation, if an activity requires more than 7 Pomodoros, it should be split. The Pomodoro Technique estimates each activity, giving you instant feedback at every step by comparing the "estimated number of Pomodoros" and the "actual number of Pomodoros completed." This part has to do with "quantitative estimates".
I didn’t expect that one thing would become more and more complicated. During the activity, do some secondary tasks often appear out of the blue? No problem, in the Pomodoro Technique, you can fill it in the “Unplanned Urgent” column and then move on to complete the main activity. This part has to do with "qualitative estimates".
The mind is occupied with thoughts. Sometimes it’s difficult to focus on a single activity because other ideas keep popping up. At this time, you should fill them in the "unplanned emergency" form, and then continue to complete the activity at hand. If you want to concentrate, put aside all distracting thoughts.
Time is spent learning to adapt to complex working methods. The Pomodoro Technique is so simple that even my daughter in kindergarten can use it. There is no need for cloud computing, no need to spend a lot of time processing data, no need for a dedicated coach to follow you, and no need to chew on professional terminology. What’s even better is that it’s malleable and allows you to adjust it at any time to avoid turning it into a superficial routine.
I just kept my head down while working and forgot to look up at the road. The brain needs some time to consolidate memories, recognize patterns, and draw conclusions. Using the Pomodoro Technique, take a break every half hour to give your brain a chance to absorb what you saw and heard during the previous Pomodoro. When you get back to work, you'll be able to see the big picture and maybe have three or five new ideas.
Treat estimates as commitments. The time it will take for an exploration or development activity cannot be predicted in advance and can only be estimated as close as possible. Always treating estimates as promises, whether to yourself or to your colleagues, can create unnecessary anxiety. To avoid such dilemmas, the Pomodoro Technique only counts Pomodoros. Even if you have a looming deadline, you can spend 25 minutes focusing on what you need to do. However, communication should also be done at any time so that relevant personnel can see the progress of the matter.
Process management, on paper. The “tracking” phase is all about collecting real data on your workflow throughout the day, which can be used in daily reviews to improve the process for the next day. Which data to track is up to you and will vary based on the specific status of your work, but a good place to start is by counting interruptions and completed pomodoros.
If you hold me back, you will go backwards. Can you still enjoy your work when someone is dumping a lot of shit on you? The struggle between “I have to do it” and “I want to do it” begins when a child is two years old. There is actually a third option: "I choose." Using the Pomodoro Technique, each morning choose an activity that you can accomplish that day. Actively pulling activities into your "To-Do Today" sheet yourself, rather than passively waiting for them to come to you, will help establish your new image as a good employee.
Perfectionism gets in the way. "Wait a minute, there is a more perfect solution" is actually another form of procrastination. The Pomodoro Technique leaves no chance for procrastination. You can just go ahead and start a Pomodoro without worrying about how to do it "perfectly." Turn on the Pomodoro, put in 25 minutes of hard work, and be rewarded with an X and a break.
Fear of wolves before, fear of tigers behind, fear of failure and criticism. Commit to the Pomodoro Technique and let it become your progress indicator and structure for your work. It's yours, tailor-made for you. With Pomodoros completed every day, you can be more efficient, get more done, and add fun to the ordinary. Pomodoro numbers are never used to let your boss rate you.
Do you have any of the above common office problems? Some of the vocabulary mentioned earlier, such as Pomodoro, estimate, table... may make people feel confused, but that's okay, please read on with questions.
6
Ask yourself: Do one thing at a time
What makes you give up halfway?
Where can you more easily concentrate when studying?
How do you avoid doing boring chores?
What types of activities usually take you longer than expected?
Is your time often filled with transactional activities, even when there are more important things to do?
recommended reading
Author: [Sweden] Staffan Nöteberg
Translator: Big Fat
Recommended foreword by Francisco Cirillo, the inventor of the Pomodoro Technique;
An introductory book on the Pomodoro Technique, fun and easy to read, with fully revised content and a full text of the author's interview with the Turing Community;
Only when you focus on the present, time belongs to you, and the Pomodoro Technique allows you to focus 100% on the present.
