One of the biggest battles work at home moms face is how to be productive at home. Juggling the responsibilities of caring for your kids and your house, along with doing the work that pays, is as hard as it sounds.
The first step in making sure that at least the important things get done is to make a to-do list each day that you are faithful to.
But if you make your list in the morning, and then just hope you’ll have time to get through it all by the end of the day, you’ll often fail.
Successful productivity requires that you have a system or plan for how you’ll get it all done.
One of the simplest systems, which has been endorsed by some of the most highly productive people in business, is known as the Pomodoro Technique. The practice works nicely for work at home moms because it builds in time for the many distractions we have.
What is the Pomodoro Technique?
Developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, the Pomodoro Technique is a time management practice that gets its name from the tomato-shaped kitchen time Cirillo used to time his work while he was a university student. (Pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato).
There are Six Steps in this Technique
1. Determine what task you’ll do.
2. Set your pomodoro timer for 25 minutes.
3. Work on your task.
4. When the timer rings, stop and put a check mark on a piece of paper.
5. If you have fewer than 4 checkmarks, take a 5 min break, and start again at step 2.
6. When you get 4 checkmarks, or pomodoros, take a longer break (up to 30 minutes), reset your checkmarks to zero, and start again at step 1.
Why Does the Pomodoro Technique Work?
Why so many people have found this method to be so effective is a longer discussion for another day.
What you need to know to start implementing the technique is that it works to train your brain to focus. With practice, you’ll find that your attention span and concentration levels have naturally increased.
For maximum effectiveness, it’s important to actually make the checkmark on the piece of paper, rather than just remembering in your head which pomodoro this is.
Although several apps labeling themselves as pomodoro timers have been developed, according to Cirillo, the physical act of winding up the timer sets your determination to start the task, and the ticking of the timer externalizes the desire to complete the task,
So working with an actual hand-held timer is best at least as you begin the process of training your brain for productivity. Although, the shape of the timer appears to be irrelevant to your success!
What to Do When You’re Interrupted
You can’t hit pause on your timer and come back to complete your 25 minutes. You either have to abandon the pomodoro, or delay whatever attempts to distract you doing a pomodoro.
Cirillo recommends the following method for dealing with distractions:
1. Inform the person (in our case it’s certainly your child) that you’re working on something right now.
2. Negotiate a time to get back with them to address their need.
3. Call back the person when your pomodoro is complete and you can tackle the distraction.
Of course handling all distractions that efficiently is a dream, so you may just have to abandon your pomodoro and start over after you’ve worked through the distraction.
How Moms Can Make the Pomodoro Technique Work
Like most things in the business world, this technique wasn’t created for work at home moms. Also like most things, it’s fine to be flexible with it.
If you find that you’re getting interrupted 21 minutes into most of your pomodoros, change your timer from 25 to 20 minutes.
Just be consistent. If 20 minutes is your sweet spot, always do 20 minutes.
If you can only get two pomodoros in a row done, don’t abandon the technique as something that doesn’t work for you.
Do two, or even one, it will still be the most productive time of your day. You may also find you get better at this technique over time, as with most things.
Need a 7 minute break in between to talk to a child or switch out the laundry? Take it.
There’s nothing magical about a 5 minute break. Just make your break short so you don’t lose focus completely and get pulled away from the task you’ve set out to complete.
The nice thing about the Pomodoro Technique for moms is that the short intervals mean you can also set a timer for your kids and have them engage in something just until the timer goes off. Then they’re free to come to you with any distraction they may have.
This is much more satisfying for everyone than having to say “just a minute” every 5 minutes, when you both know “a minute” really might mean an hour!
Looking for Some Extra Income?
If you’re a work at home mom looking for more opportunities, or a stay at home mom with the itch to create some outside interest and income, at KidsPartyCharacters.com we may have the perfect business for you.
Owner Cheryl Jacobs has recently decided to help others cut down the amount of time and money it takes to get started with your own business by making a limited number of KidsPartyCharacters.com memberships available.
What’s included with your membership? An exclusive territory in which you can book parties, the right to use our over 200 unique costumes, access to our casting director, business training, and ongoing support from Cheryl and the Kids Party Characters team.
You set your hours and work as much or little as you want in this business. You’ll also find the business so much fun that your kids will want to get involved rather than complaining about mommy working.
If you think a KidsPartyCharacters.com membership might be the right fit for your life, schedule a no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here and she’ll help answer your questions and give you all the details.
To see more about all the fun we make happen at KidsPartyCharacters.com, also connect with us on Facebook.
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