Pomodoro: More than Just a Tomato, a Technique!
After being in business as an entreprenuer over the last 20 years, I’ve begun to receive inquiries from clients and readers not just about my areas of expertise (food, nutrition, cooking, sport and skincare) but about how to build a business.
And while my areas of interest and experience lie within the health + wellness categories, I’ve also had the opportunity to begin to coach other entrepreneurs in their respective businesses, too, primarily those with whom I partner with in Beautycounter.
In actuality, it’s this mentor or leadership role that resonated most deeply with me when I decided to onboard with the company just nine months ago.
First, there was the alignment with their education (about what we’re putting on our skin) first component, which was already something I’d been speaking to from my soapbox for decades. I can’t see myself having partnered with a company that promoted something I didn’t believe in from the bottom of my heart.
Next, there was the fact that what they were providing to consumers as a safe alternative was something I’d tested myself furthering my belief in the company and it’s mission.
But perhaps most importantly was the opportunity to help other women and men create their own businesses with flexible hours and unlimited earning potential all while we lock arms and educate, collaborate and grow.
In light of this, I’ve decide to include blog posts related to business building; including mistakes I’ve made, people and public figures from whom I’ve learned a ton and to answer questions you may have as an entrepreneur (or a momtreprenuer, if I can still use that word as it pertains to being a dog mom!).
So today in my first blog post along this vein, I’d like to introduce you to a technique I just learned about: The Pomodoro Technique.
And it has nothing to do with cooking!
According to Wikipedia, the Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s.
The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. These intervals are named pomodoros, the plural in English of the Italian word pomodoro (tomato), after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used as a university student.
Why is this important?
Because as an entrepreneur, you’re your own boss.
There is no one to report to, no-one holding a deadline under your nose and no one to go to when you need help.
As such, when beginning or even when maintaining a new business endeavor, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. There is so much to do, and none of it is unimportant, but where to begin?
Rather than letting this feeling of too much to do and unsure of where to start… just begin with one thing and do it, and only it, for the 25 minute period of time.
It may be spending 25 minutes replying to client emails for the first block, writing a blog post about your business for the second one, a phone call with a local vendor to discuss an upcoming event you’re both attending on the third and the fourth might be an in person meeting with a referral from a colleague about testing out your product.
Then it’s time for a 30 minute break to take a walk, meditate, even fold the laundry – just do something active and then get right back to your next chunk of four blocks.
I have found that this not only keeps me fresh and focused, it results in getting significantly more accomplished than I would if I’d simply stated that “I am going to work on my business all day” but didn’t put into place a plan or project management system, nor did I avoid obvious distractions. Keeping your Facebook tab open to check for likes on that article you shared about the cat rescued from a tree doesn’t exactly help productivity.
What’s worse every time we get distracted, it takes even longer to refocus! A ttypical office worker gets only 11 minutes between each interruption, while it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to the original task after an interruption. (2)
Test this out and see if you don’t get more done, achieve more results and feel inspired and more focus as the week progresses.
Next week, I’ll be writing about how being a high performance athlete carries over into work. This is not something that applies only to others who, like myself, chose ironman as their sport of choice, Rather, it’s simply the mindset of knowing we can set a goal and then create a plan to develop it!
What would you like to read about in this new section of my blog?
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
(2)Sullivan, Bob, and Hugh Thompson. “Brian, Interrupted.” New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web.
