A Tomato Changed My Business

Posted In Mindset and Productivity | 4 comments

Hey there,

About a year ago I was introduced to a pretty simple technique regarding time management involving a tomato that changed my business in a big way.

(It has literally been responsible for thousands of dollars in my business and I thought it may help you as well).

The technique is called the “Pomodoro Technique” (pomodoro = tomato in Italian) and was created by a guy named Francesco Cirillo back in 1992. It involves a simple kitchen timer (shaped like a tomato – hence
the name) and a sheet of paper (and a pen to write with).

In a nutshell, this technique looks like this:

You create a to-do list, or rather a ‘task list’ on a sheet of paper.

You pick the first task on the list and set your timer to 25 minutes (one 25-minute block of time is called a pomodoro) and work until the time is up (you stop what you’re doing NO MATTER WHAT).

Once your task is completed you cross it off your list.

For every 25 minute segment you take a five minute break, and after every 4 pomodoros you take a longer break of 20 – 30 minutes or so.

Simple, right?

Now, there’s a little bit more to it than this and you can download the entire ebook completely
free from the pomodoro technique website (there’s no catch and no opt-in required):

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/resources/ThePomodoroTechnique_v1-3.pdf

They also have a little cheat sheet and worksheet PDFs you can download free of charge on this page as well:

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/products.html
(just scroll down towards the bottom of the page)

If you’re short on time or suffer from Internet Marketing ADD (like I do), then this technique
can literally change your business around (I honestly wish I had come across this info sooner in my IM career).

Have a look, read the book and implement it into your business and let me know how it works for you!

All the best,
Steven

PS – As for the whole timer thing… I don’t actually use an egg timer. I download an
iPhone app called the “Pomodoro Timer” for $0.99 (it sounds and sort of looks like an egg timer…)

PPS – I highly recommend that you use a timer that ‘ticks’ (counts down the time). For some reason it has a psychological effect that really helps get your butt in gear… (at least for me).

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Leave A Reply (4 comments So Far)

  • Ron Brantley

    Hey Steven,

    This is a great tip I’ve heard about but never used.
    I do use the blocks of time segment, however sometimes I forget I’m in the block :)

    Gonna have to get me a physical timer, like you said, I can imagine the psychological
    factor it has, hearing the constant tick. Plus I will know when to break and refresh my
    brain (might need to take a lot of breaks to accomplish that ;) )

    Thanks again for the tip,

    Ron Brantley

    • Steven

      Hi Ron,

      The “ticking” definitely gives you a sense of urgency, and gets you laser focused really quickly.

      And taking those little breaks are surprisingly helpful in recharging your brain for another burst of intense activity.

      All the best,
      Steven

  • Lori

    Hi Steve! I have looked into doing this, as a time management technique, and I just found a handy Chrome Extension that is called “Strict Pomodoro” and it actually blocks social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. during that 25 minutes. You can set up additional sites too. It will allow you to look at them the during the 5 mins and then you can start the clock over. It’s really cool. So this blog post came at a perfect time!

    • Steven

      Hi Lori,

      That’s a great tip. I’ll be downloading it for sure. :)
      Thanks for sharing.

      Steven

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