Eat that Frog with a Pomodoro
Hello fella! So, I am back with another blog and today we’ll talk about eating frogs with a Pomodoro (Italian for tomato). YUMMMMMM!!
For everyone’s information, the Pomodoro is there to add flavor to our frog. So, after corona virus, lets start frogavirus ;P
Okay kidding!
So lemme begin with explaining what is a frog and what is eating the frog with Pomodoro means. Basically, frog symbolizes the task that we have to do but tend to procrastinate and Pomodoro is a tomato shaped timer. So, the Pomodoro technique is to set a timer for 25 minutes and work on a selected task, after eliminating distractions. The picture below summarizes the steps to apply the Pomodoro technique.
So, after stating the steps, I’ll now narrate my story of how I ate the frog with Pomodoro (not literally!)
So, basically, April has been, till now, the most hectic month. Why so? Actually, till last month, I was on a job and because I knew that I will be ending my term by the end of March, I delayed some of the tasks, that could have been done in March, and planned to do them in April. So now, when April stated, I had more task, as in assignments, project work, quizzes etc., apart from the tasks of March.
My life became a ticking time bomb with deadlines here and there. And even with a ticking time bomb, this girl of yours have the guts to procrastinate more and waste more of the precious time.
So it happened this way that this week, at Amal, the entire course revolved around time management and how to deal with procrastination. It was in this course I came across this method. I won’t say I wasn’t familiar with the method, because I used to use it during my CAIE preps, but yes I was unfamiliar with the proper term.
Once I came across it, I first decided that I’ll use this strategy for some mundane activity and be done with the task and will blog a general experience. I planned it this way because of the past stigma attached to this method, which I'll narrate later in this blog.
So, as I incorporated this method in my regular, not so important activities, I decided to give it a shot for some real shit, and not just for the sake of Amal Project work(PW). I wont lie, it worked! It worked again like it used to back during the CAIE.
So, a question might pop in your head that why i stopped using this strategy in first place, when it used to work for me before??
The answer is that I have severe anxiety issues. Even though I always manage to reach my deadlines and do my work perfectly, but doing it all isn't easy. I go through a roller coaster of anxiety attacks, due to which it becomes hard for me to focus. (btw don’t worry about my anxiety. I have had therapies and kind of know how to calm it) So, when I previously used to use this strategy, the time was usually 1 hour or a little more. Sitting in one place and focusing on one thing for this long sure used to give me additional anxiety to my already irrational anxiety. So after CAIE, I never basically used this strategy, except for when it were exams. Even then too, I didn’t religiously followed this strategy.
And this my friends, is the stigma attached to this strategy for me :)
This time around, the time in this strategy was stated to be 25 minutes so focusing wasn’t difficult as I kept calming myself that it’s just 25 minutes. Also, it takes about full 10 minutes for me to get engrossed in an activity. Once I am in, I lose track of time and don’t stop till it’s done. So, even though I set the timer for 25, I found myself sitting beyond that time.
The timer not only allowed to me to establish my focus fast and helped relive my anxiety fast but also, when I didn’t get distracted till 25 minutes, it gave me a sense of achievement which I actually enjoyed.
(btw, as I type this blog, I am using that strategy here as well)
I do plan to use this strategy in my daily life, especially when doing assignments because this really did help. Especially in calming my nerves! I might modify the breaks with rewards such as using social media or going out of the room, or giving a rub to Cookie.
In the end, I urge you all to use this strategy and once you do, share your experiences in the comments below. Till then, take care and
