One of the drawbacks of working from home is the amount of distractions at your fingertips, whether it be a full pantry of food or living distractions like family members and pets. The temptation to relax and doing chores are the top two biggest work-from-home distractions. Time-management skills are key to helping with these distractions. The Pomodoro Technique of breaking work into short intervals is widely promoted as helping combat procrastination and inefficiency. Here’s how it works.
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Pick your task. Where do your focus and efficiency dependably flounder? Use the technique primarily for jobs you are unexcited about or work you’ve been putting off.
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Choose a time and an interval. Pick the hours of the day when you tend to be most alert, and then give yourself 25 minute sprints of concentrated activity with five-minute breaks. Fifty minutes might be better – it is the time that correlates with the highest productivity gains.
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Get active in your break. Create energy while resting from your work by lifting weights or doing yoga. You can even engage in a bit of dancing as it’s a fun way to bring back that energy and get moving.
- Just get going. The hardest bit can be getting started, so just force yourself to begin, or link up with a friend and commit to starting together. It’s easy to cancel a session with yourself, harder to give up on a friend. Then focus your mind and keep with your task till it’s over. MORE
The above leadership tip
was sent in response to a question from a participant on our acclaimed 10/10 leadership development and mentoring programme. Whether you're a first time manager or an experienced leader, straightforward, practical advice on best practice is hard to find. Until now. To find out how you, your team or your organisation can benefit, please join us on our next complimentary webinar or contact us.
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