Beat Groundhog Day with Eat That Frog and The Pomodoro Technique

Some days might feel like you’re living your own Groundhog Day story. Your to-do list is loaded with incomplete activities from the day before, and then it happens. An email with the blazing tiny red flag and the words URGENT in big letters appears. You cringe simply looking at the notice, and you haven’t even opened the email yet; you know it will be unpleasant.

The project requires your urgent attention, which means you’ll be elbow-deep in a mess you don’t want to deal with. The prospect of getting started is intimidating, especially if your to-do list is already overflowing. So you do what any average person would do. Put it at the bottom of the list and avoid it like the plague.

Before you know it, hours turn into days; days turn into weeks. The deadline is speedily approaching, and it has become routine to dodge this assignment like a bullet.

Every day begins to feel like GROUNDHOG DAY!

Grab Your Silverware and Eat a Frog For Breakfast

Before you know it, hours have turned into days, and days have turned into weeks. The deadline is approaching fast, and avoiding this job like a bullet has become habitual.

Every day is turning into GROUNDHOG DAY!

I don’t mean literally. If you’ve ever googled “how to be more productive,” you’ve probably come across the Eat That Frog approach. Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time was made famous by Brian Tracy’s classic time-management book.

Tracy defines the three fundamental principles of effective time management: decision, discipline, and determination. Eat that frog is a metaphor for completing an essential activity on your to-do list.

Divide your tasks into four categories each morning to help you figure out what your frog is:

· Tasks you don’t want to do but need to be done.

· Tasks you want to do and need to be done.

· Tasks you want to do but don’t need to.

· Tasks you don’t want to do and don’t need to.

Now, focus on the tasks that you don’t want to complete but must. You know, the one you’ve been procrastinating!

Take Your Frogs and Put Them Into Action With The Pomodoro Technique

Another productive approach you may have come across when Googling productivity is the Pomodoro technique. Francesco Cirillo devised it in the 1980s, formerly known as the tomato timer. The time management concept boosts your attention on the work at hand and promotes mental sharpness, allowing you to perform activities more quickly and with less mental fatigue. You work in small doses and take breaks throughout the day for each activity or project you work on today.

The process is simple:

i- Decide on the task to be done.

ii- Set the Pomodoro timer (alarm) to 25 minutes.

iii- Work on the task until the timer rings. If a distraction pops into your head, write it down, but immediately get back on the task.

iv- After the timer tings, put a star (or a tick) on a piece of paper.

v- Take a short 3–5-minute break.

vi- Repeat steps 1–4.

vii- After you have four ticks on your paper, you can take a more extended break (15–20 minutes) and continue working on your task by going to step 1 until you complete your task.

How I Eat My Frog Today?

I am a business graduate who is now working on my research thesis. I’m stuck on the data analysis part. Every morning, I told myself, “Today, I will get this done,” but I couldn’t because other things demanded my attention. I knew I needed to finish this report to earn my degree.

I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO CONCENTRATE when I have many critical tasks clamoring for my attention. Priorities are constantly shifting, and it is challenging to keep up with the fast-paced delivery required by a thesis. It’s challenging to stay concentrated and work on one activity at a time.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep my attention. I had a hard time focusing on one task at a time and was worried that I wasn’t concentrating on my most critical assignment.

Then everything changed. I discovered the Pomodoro technique at Amal Academy yesterday and thought it would be an excellent methodology. So, I downloaded the Pomodoro planning sheet. Today, I had three important tasks to attend to in addition to completing the data analysis phase of my thesis. I had no idea how to prioritize them all, so I utilized the planning sheet to ease me.

As soon as I read the tag line for today’s priority, “What must you complete to feel a sense of accomplishment?” This was a turning point for me! It helped me to see the urgency from my point of view. I felt an incredible wave of focus.

I started by setting my timer for 25 minutes with a 10-minute break (which works best for me) and began working. My data analysis was completed after four sessions!

I could then focus on the remaining items on my to-do list, feeling good about myself. Something I hadn’t felt in a long time! When the crushing weight of my to-do list bears down on me and fear creeps in, I ask myself, “What must I finish to experience a feeling of accomplishment?” This calms my mind and sharpens my attention, allowing me to focus solely on that one job.