One Task At a Time

When you break your project down, it all comes down to tasks. Bigger projects have more tasks, and smaller projects have fewer tasks. But at the end of the day, when you complete the tasks the project is made out of – you’ve completed your project!

So what’s the problem?

Focus. That’s the problem.

How many times have you found yourself starting to work on the task at hand, just to find yourself updating your Facebook profile, or answering an email, or reading the blog post that was linked to from the blog post that you were reading to get around a problem?

Just as an example, as I’m writing this blog, my Facebook tab is open, reminding me I have unanswered messages and ignored notifications (and the temptation to see what they are is enormous!), my Gmail tab open with four unread email calling for my attention, and tabs open that started off with research for this post, but somehow I found this image of the Avengers posing as women.

So how can we focus on our tasks?

Well, one way is to use the Pomodoro technique. The Pomodoro technique is a time management method created by Francesco Cirillo, that can be used for any kind of task. Basically, you alternate between a long work period and a short rest period – say 25 minutes of working, and 5 minutes resting.

Want to try it out? Get FocusBooster (the desktop app is better than the online version), and fire it up. Now work, until the timer runs out – then rest. Rinse, and repeat. You may find those tasks being dealt with faster than you thought

Tasks on one side, don’t forget to start your next project with HappyTODOS!