How To Use Tomatoes To Explode Your Efficiency

This is going to sound weird. But it works. 

Here’s a simple idea that will make a massive difference to your effectiveness and efficiency. It sounds crazy but I’ve tried, and it’s a winner! This is a quick read that will save you an insane amount of hours.

Why not give it a go?

I was preparing for a series of speeches I was giving and I had at least two hours of very hard work to do to update a presentation. But there I was, struggling to get started. The task simply felt too big a mountain to climb.

Then I remembered some weird advice I received from an acquaintance, Kuba, at a breakfast two months previously:

‘Enjoy tomatoes if you want to turbo your effectiveness’

WHAT HE MEANT WAS:

Use regular breaks to accelerate your productivity. 

Stay with me, this is good stuff. Kuba shared the Pomodoro Technique with me – a time management method that uses a timer to break down work into intervals traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. 

These intervals are known as ‘pomodori’ the plural of the Italian word ‘pomodoro’ for ‘tomato’. This method is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility.

THERE ARE FIVE BASIC STEPS TO IMPLEMENTING THE TECHNIQUE:

1. Decide on the task to be done
2. Set the ‘pomodoro’ timer to an amount of minutes (traditionally 25)
3. Work on the task until the timer rings
4. Take a short break (3–5 minutes)
5. After four ‘pomodori’, take a longer break (15–30 minutes)

So, I gave it a go. I started by using the J.F.D.I approach…’Just Fricken Do It’. I got started on the task but if I wanted to stop after 10 minutes I could. Still, I set my timer for 25 minutes and then I got stuck in. Suddenly, the buzzer went off and I was shocked! That was 25 minutes? I took a short break and then I went again. I repeated this process four times and then I was done. It felt great. I nailed it.

The very next day I had to get started on arranging a detailed schedule for a three-day visit to Singapore and it involved making contact with a lot of people, arranging meetings and events. It felt daunting. So again, I attacked it with the Pomodoro Technique and it’s safe to say, the process was highly effective, once again. I was making great progress and the idea has fully taken hold.

What did the Daddy Tomato say to Junior Tomato on the family walk? “Ketchup.” (with thanks to ‘Pulp Fiction.’).

So – want to catch up time and get more done, more effectively? Try the Pomodoro Technique. I like it and I’m pretty sure you will too.