Adam Hughes - Pomodoro for Writers

Hughes / POMODORO FORWRITERS / 22

Pomodoro for Writers

Copyright 2016 AdamHughes

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You're Missing Out!

As an aspiring author, haveyou ever bemoaned the fact that you just dont have enough time towrite as much as you want, as much as you need, in order to succeedat your chosen craft?

Its a common lament, andits no secret why we all struggle to get much of anything donewhen it comes to writing.

Were busy. REALLYbusy.

Many of us have a spouseand children, and most of us have day jobs outside of writing that demand a ton ofour time and energy. Between working 40-50 hours per week,commuting back and forth, and running the kids around after school,there is barely time left to eat, let alone write.

If you take a hard look atyour schedule, though, you will find that there is indeed some fat-- chunks of time when you could be writing but that you are notusing at all, or at least not using effectively .

Here are some of those timewedges that most of us have available, at least to someextent:

• Early morning

• Late night

• Lunch

• Break periods atwork

• Time spent watchingtelevision

• Weekend goof-offtime

Youre probably thinkingthat these are just tiny blocks that dont amount to much when itcomes to finishing that novel you have stuck in your head or evencranking out more blog posts. You might also bristle at the idea ofgiving up any of your free time, or losing sleep in order towrite.

The fact is that youcannot fit writing into your busy life without giving up something , and it shouldnot be your work or family who suffer. You will have to decide foryourself whether your dream of writing success is worth sacrificing lunch outwith your co-workers every day and those nighttimesitcoms.

Assuming that yourewilling to make that sacrifice, though, you still might not beconvinced that you can get much done in 30 minutes here or 15minutes there. But if youre not taking advantage of these freeshots at writing success, youre really missing out, and manywriters find that chunking up their work can actually be more productive thansetting aside a full morning or afternoon for writing.

You cant just sit down toyour computer, however, and expect magic to happen, at least not atfirst. You need a plan of action, and thats where the Pomodoro Technique comesinto play.

Used correctly, Pomodorojust could be the secret sauce that helps you squeeze morequality writing into your busy day than you ever thoughtpossible.

What Is Pomodoro?

The PomodoroTechnique was developed by FrancescoCirillo in the late 1980s as a way to study more intensely and getmore work done while he was in college. Over the years, Cirillo hasrevised and proselytized Pomodoro, and he has even written a book on thetopic.

The general idea behindPomodoro is that most of us, especially in todays fast-pacedworld, have trouble focusing on one activity at a time because oursenses are constantly under siege. External demands and stimuli areever-increasing, and its all too easy to get distracted by a phonecall, email, or YouTube video.

Pomodoro invites us to turnoff the distractions for a short period of time, pick ONE prioritythat we need (or want) to attack, and dig in with completefocus.

After this sprint, werest for a few minutes -- this is vital to success with the method-- then focus again for another intense period. Each of thesesprints is called a Pomodoro, after the Italian word for tomatoand the kitchy food timers that look like tomatoes. In fact,Cirillo used one of those chronometers for his experiments incollege, and thats where the method gets its name.

Pomodoro sounds simple, andit is, but it can have a tremendous effect on yourproductivity.

How Do You DO Pomodoro?

Pomodoro is SO simple, infact, that you can start right now with almost no preparation orsetup at all. Heres how to do it:

• Pick a task that you wantto knock off your to-do list.

• Set your Pomodoro timer to25 minutes.

• Work on the task until yourtimer dings.

• Take a short break --usually around five minutes.

• Repeat this cycle threemore times, or a total of two hours.

• After your four Pomodoros,take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.

Thats the basic process,but there are some tweaks and pointers that can help you get themost out of the Pomodoro Technique.

• Ideally, you will be ableto finish a taskduring a 25-minute Pomodoro. In the real world, youll probablyneed to continue during a later sprint. Feel free to keep workingafter the ding if youre on a roll. The purpose of Pomodoro is tokeep you focused, not to box you into a set framework.

• On a similar note, adjustthe length of your Pomodoros and rest periods as needed. Thestandard Pomodoro is 25 minutes, followed by a five-minute break,but you wont always have that long. If you have a 10-minute workbreak, take a minute or two to find a quiet writing place, set yourtimer for 7 minutes, and crank away until the belltolls.

• You may find that Pomodoroswork well during certain periods, but not during others. If youreinterrupted during a Pomodoro, Cirillo prescribes the followingapproach:

• Inform the person who interrupts you that youre working onsomething important.

• Negotiate a time when you can get back to them.

• Schedule the follow-up while the distractor is still infront of you.

• Callback , or make good on your word to contactthe interrupter when your Pomodoro is finished.

Naturally, this remedywont work with everyone who disrupts you, and emergencies usuallytrump Pomodoros, but its a good place to start. Once people beginto understand your process and trust that you will keep yourpromise to follow up, you may find that you encounter fewerdistractions

What Do YouNeed to Do Pomodoro?

Because Pomodoro is sosimple in concept, you dont need very much to get set up, and youcan start anytime. In fact, all you should EVER need in order touse Pomodoro effectively is:

• A list of tasks to becompleted

• A workspace

• A diversion for breakperiods

• A timer

That first one -- tasks todo -- is a given since youre reading this guide and looking forways to get more done.