Often one may think that if you want to keep focused on your work, that one may have to keep on working without having a break. Usually that means 4 hours straight in a row. But if you don’t have a break at all then chances are that you are actually being less productive. Additionally you may run the risk of having to deal with neck and back pains. In my search to find a good way to fit in a small break of around 5 minutes I found the Pomodoro technique during a google session.
The trick with Pomodoro (Italian for tomato) is that you focus on your job at hand for the next 25 minutes utilizing a kitchen timer. In the short but very enjoyable video below you may find this technique explained.
As soon as you know what your productivity level is in those 25 minutes you can start to pin tasks to a number of pomodoro’s that’s suited to you.
A add on for your browser is a lot easier if you work from behind a computer. Every time after a (user) specified number of minutes you will receive a notification. A great example of such an browser add on within Firefox is stretchclock which also makes a lot less noise than an actual Pomodoro. After every 25 minutes you are also redirected to some videos with exercises you can perform from behind your desk. For Google Chrome you may use ” target=”_blank”>these add ons. You can make use of a daily relax YouTube video where you can select a video of 25 minutes or more.
I myself usually underestimate how long a task can take. This is the principle reason why I am always late. I think that I have all the time in the world and that every thing can be done within 15 minutes… yep that couldn’t be more further from the truth! A method I normally use is my smartphone as a timer for those pesky jobs at home or even for things as simple as taking a shower and getting ready in the mornings. This way you will have some insight in how long a certain task takes and at the same time keeping track of time, while staying within your own sets of limits.