Author: Phil Marsosudiro

Productivity Blast: The Pomodoro Technique(R)

With the Pomodoro Technique(R), you focus on one task for a specific bite of time (e.g., 25 minutes), then stop for a planned break.

It’s a proven method that can help you from Day One, with zero cost. Or if you want more coaching and tools, the Pomodoro Technique(R) creators have plenty to offer you.

Here’s their basic method:*

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*Image from the Pomodoro Technique(R) website. ADHD9to5.com is not affiliated with the Pomodoro Technique(R) organization, and we will make no money if you buy their products. But we do think they’re great!

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Put a Time Limit on Your Breaks

Breaks are great!

The hard part is remembering to get back on task.*

Set a timer so you can really enjoy your break, confident you’ll get back to work after ten minutes or however long you’ve decided to get away.

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*”Let’s see, I just did a good hour of work, so I ought to take a break. Maybe I’ll go check the mail. Oh, look, an article about fitness. Hey, maybe I’ll take a walk — it’s beautiful outside. No, I don’t really have time for that — smart ADHD management! Time to get back to… oh, geez, look at my car’s headlights. Foggy. I really ought to fix that. Isn’t there some spray I can buy to buff that out? I’ll look online as soon as I get back inside. It’ll only take a second…just quick search on Google and… [four hours later] HOW IS IT FIVE O’CLOCK ALREADY?“

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You Can’t Score Twenty Points in One Play

to do vs done

You can’t score Twenty points in one play.

Coaches know this. Athletes need reminders.

In football, the most you can score in one play is six points. In basketball, only three.

If you’re down twenty and try to catch up in one play, you’ll fail. Even if you only think about all the plays you’ll need to catch up, you’ll fail.

One play at a time.

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*a four-point play after a foul doesn’t count because you can’t plan for it 🙂

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Lists are Helpful :-)

Lists are helpful. Don’t lose them ☺

In 1996 two escaped prisoners from Marble Valley, Vermont, were forced to abandon a stolen car when a police officer approached them. Inside was a very helpful list the forgetful fugitives wrote to help them remember what to do:

  • Drive to Maine
  • Get a safer place to stay
  • Buy guns
  • Get Marie
  • Get car
    …
  • Do robbery
  • Go to New York

The prisoners were later picked up in Manhattan getting off a Maine-to-New-York bus.

–1,000 Unforgettable Senior Moments, Tom Friedman

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Washing Dishes: Thich Nhat Hanh

“While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes,

which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes.

…There are two ways to wash the dishes. The first is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second is to wash the dishes in order to wash the dishes. …If while washing the dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not “washing the dishes to wash the dishes.” What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes.

…If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future – and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”

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The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation Thich Nhat Hanh

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“The Next Physical Action”: Break Out of Churn-Paralysis

“What is “the very next physical action required to move the situation forward”?”

— David Allen, author of Getting Things Done

If you know your objective but are stuck churning over what to “do” next, break the mental paralysis via physical action.

From David Allen’s Getting Things Done site:
90+ % of the to do lists I’ve seen are incomplete inventories of still-unclear things. The Next Action definition (if you’re really getting down to having no ambiguity about the next visible physical activity required to move something forward), actually finishes the thinking you’ve implicitly agreed with yourself that you’ll do. “Mom ” is an unclarified to do item. But when “Mom ” is translated into “Celebrate Mom’s birthday with a party” as a project outcome, then “Call Sis about what we should do for Mom’s birthday ” is a clear next action. Because “Mom ” is vague, it still triggers stress when you look at it on a list. “Call Sis . . . ” triggers action and positive engagement.

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