I’ve been yapping away a lot lately about how to make more money, how to find hidden assets in your business, and how to attract customers. However, there are plenty of customers and piles of money to go around, but only a FINITE amount of this thing.
TIME.
We all only get a small box of time. You can’t buy it. You can’t take a bottle of vitamins and make more of it and as a business owner, you are constantly racing against it.
I just recently acquired a new freelance writing client that I’ve been doing some work for, and in this process I discovered a new (yet not that new) technique that has been sweeping small circles of the Interweb.
It’s called the Pomodoro Technique.
Basically, a pomodoro means tomato in Italian. This technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo around 1980 while he was a student in Rome, eventually writing a book about it, which I will give you for FREE in a minute.
In a nutshell, the Pomodoro Technique takes your daily tasks and breaks them down using a simple kitchen timer. You set the timer for 25 minutes and do NOTHING else but work on the task at hand for that amount of time.
When the timer goes off, you take a short break, then back to another 25 minute cycle until the task is finished. On the surface, this may sound a little lame, but it’s so simple and it works so well, that it’s scary.
It’s a trick that I use myself when I’m trying to be ultra-productive and want to buckle down and get through a task. You end up ramping up your output, because you feel as though you have to fit it in within 25 minutes. I never knew that there was a name for it until just a few days ago.
It gives you a tremendous amount of focus.
It gives you the power to pack in a ton of productivity in one, tiny package.
Most of all, it gives you back more time.
Now, the crazy thing about all of this is that Cirillo didn’t invent this method first. Eugene Schwartz (one of the best copywriters in the world) used this technique to run his entire business, working only 4 hours a day and getting as much as a “normal” person could pack in 10 hours.
I talked about his technique in this old post on problem solving.
However, Cirillio has made this his life’s work and has created a powerful web site completely devoted to this process of getting in control of your tasks and doing a lot more in less time.
Now, I told you earlier that I would have a little gift for you today, so I’m not going to disappoint.
You can get his whole book on the Pomodoro Technique for FREE. This is not an affiliate link and I am in no way associated with this dude. I just thought that it would be a really good tool for the Underdog Millionaires to get their paws on.
So here you go: Get the Pomodoro Technique Here.
He also gives you all kinds of other resources and worksheets to download, in addition to the book. I give it the Underdog Millionaire seal of approval.
Let me know what you think about this technique. Are there any small business productivity techniques that you like to use when you are really putting the pedal to the metal? Don’t be shy. Leave a comment below… share this with your friends as well and smack that Twitter button while you’re at it.
In your service,
Joshua Black
P.S. I just recently revealed all of the added bonuses for the people that purchase the Underdog Marketing 101 book during the launch week, but I only told the people on the list so far.
If you want to get in on all of the hidden gems available to you, you might want to get in on the list as well. I will be posting the added bonuses on the site, probably sometime this weekend.
Click the image to get the FREE
Underdog Millionaire wealth Pack!
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{ 5 comments }
Hi Joshua, this is a great article. I use the Pomodoro Technique a lot. It makes for super productivity as you say.
I do find that I can’t do it for much more than an a couple of hours at a time though without tired. This generally works ok for me though, as I usually have client meetings which breaks the intense periods of concentration up.
Yes, I agree. It’s not something that I could keep up for long periods of time. I like to use it when I know that I need to focus on something that needs a lot done in a short amount of time. However, I can see how it could be modified to use for all kinds of evveryday tasks.
-Joshua Black
Thanks for sharing such a great report Joshua.
Over the past two years, I’ve been interested in patterns of work and have tried various methods but have never heard of the Pomodoro technique.
At present I use 60:60:30 (50 minutes of work, 10 minute break, repeated twice and then a longer break), but I’ll experiment with shorter bursts of work.
This report has also given me a few ideas about how to improve my ability to estimate the amount of time it will take to complete a task. Over-estimation of what is possible within a set time is a major source of frustration.
Thanks Again
Stuart Laing
Hi Stuart,
Glad I could help. I think it’s important for each person to develop their own work technique, by combining different tools that work for others and make them your own. When people over estimate their tasks, it can cause a lot of stress, because those tasks run into other tasks and a domino effect takes place. Breaking things down into smaller pieces, and only working on one task until it’s done is (in my opinion) the most efficient way to work… and the most satisfying.
-Joshua Black
Thanks for an interesting perspective on this technique, Joshua.
I’ve used time boxing for a few years, which I’ve found useful to get me started on things I might otherwise put off.
Unlike the Pomodoro technique, which is useful for projects you’re already immersed in, time boxing can be far more flexible. Quite often, we won’t have a big enough chunk of time available to ‘Pomodoro’ it.
Your point about breaking things down into smaller pieces, and only working on one task until it’s done is good advice. I’d suggest it applies if you have big enough chunks of time to be able to use the Pomodoro technique. Alternatively, for shorter periods, do another task that fits the available time.
- Thanks,
Tim Wilson