Let me guess. You have a hard time focusing on what you’re currently doing. You have a big to-do list you want to finish. You know you need to focus to get more done. But as you start tackling the items on your to-do list, distractions come from out of nowhere. And at the end of the day, you find yourself having accomplished very little all day apart from watching TV or whatever it was that distracted you. It happens all the time, right? The thing is… if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to get the right stuff done today before tomorrow rolls around.
The question now is how? How to get more stuff done today so that you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished what you needed to on any given day… and eventually, grow your business at a faster rate. Well, there is one technique that helped me to do just that.
Are you ready to learn about it?
Introducing the Pomodoro technique
You may have heard about it elsewhere. But let me give it to you straight: it’s a game changer. If you’re not familiar with it, the Pomodoro technique is a technique where you work for a short burst of time, focus on what you need to do, then take a break, return again and focus for a short time, take a break and so on.
Simple, right? But even so, it’s a life changer.
Here are a few of the reasons why:
- It uses the power of urgency, where you try to focus 100% on getting the task at hand done
- This helps you avoid distraction
- Having no distraction + focusing on the job = get more done = grow your business faster.
- Eliminate burnout: Taking breaks help you to not lose your motivation.
If you haven’t done it before, you’ll be amazed with the results after just a few weeks. For me, I was able to get what I used to study for 2 hours in less than 50 minutes. I don’t need to say that the retention was pretty much the same or maybe higher because of the focus. It gave me additional time to work on my business and still have time to enjoy with friends.
Chris Winfeild has reported that he got 40 hours of work done in just 16.7 hours!! Wouldn’t those extra 23.3 hours affect your life? Absolutely!!!
How to apply it
There are a lot of ways to apply this technique, you could get fancy with it, or just keep it simple. Let’s go with the simple way and then show you how to make it more elaborate.
Here’s the simple way:
- Grab a timer, it could be your mobile device or even a program on your laptop.
- Set it to 25 minutes
- When you press start, don’t do anything except that specific task you have. You need to finish it before the timer is over.
- When the 25 minutes are done, you can take a break for 5 minutes… make sure to time it
- Then return back to work and do another Pomodoro.
- After you complete 4 Pomodoros, you could take a bigger rest… you deserve it ;)
Want to make it a bit more elaborate? Here are tools to help you with the Pomodoro technique:
- Focus Timer: If you’re an iPhone user, this app is for you.
- Marinara Timer: A great web based app. I like how simple and flexible it is.
- Clear Focus: If you’re an android user, like me, this is the app you need. I use it daily. The interface is really simple. Open it, click play and you’re good to go.
But you could get it done with a kitchen timer. Try a few different things and see what works best for you.
This technique changed my life
I know it may seem silly to try a very simple technique like this. But trust me. It changed my life. And I’m sure it could change yours. If I can use this technique to study dentistry, get high GPA (3.93), and build a successful business online, then you can certainly benefit from it, too.
All you need to do is take action and try it for 1 week and see the results for yourself. I’m sure you’ll thank me later :)
