Eat that Frog with a Pomodoro

I was very excited about this project because it is an excellent way to increase productivity and quarantine has made me very lazy.

Task # 1: Morning Walk

Goal: To not use the phone during walk

The first task I lined up for the day was the morning walk. I set my timer for 25 minutes and went to the roof of my house. I usually use my phone during walks and often times I almost fall due to distractions. I placed my phone nearby, started the timer, and began walking. I got to see the sunrise. I completed the walk in 25 minutes and even though I am usually grumpy in the morning, due to the walk, I was in high spirits to begin the day. I treated myself with a five-minute scroll on Instagram.

Task # 2:Transfer poems from notes to computer

Goal: do not take more than 25 minutes

Now, this task was difficult. Whenever I have to send emails or work on my phone, I get distracted easily. I had to transfer some poems written in my notes app to my laptop and compose a word document of them. I set the timer and started working. It was very hard to keep my attention on the task at hand and overlooking all the notifications (my FOMO was killing me by 10th minute). But I managed to make the word document in only 25 minutes. This usually takes me more than an hour but I was so happy to complete my work in time. I talked to my sister for a bit to relax.

Task # 3: Make breakfast

Goal: Do not burn yourself or the food or the house

I am not a very good cook. I would rate my cooking abilities 5/10. I wanted to make my own breakfast today. I take a lot of time to make breakfast because I have to gather all the utensils and it takes time to do so. I have also burnt food in the past due to my negligence and lack of attention. This time I had a strategy in mind. I set the timer and muted the notifications on my phone. First, I gathered all the utensils, and then I began making my breakfast. I was actually able to make breakfast in less than 25 minutes. The real success was that I didn’t burn the food or myself or my mother’s kitchen. I watched a vlog on YouTube while devouring my breakfast as a reward.

Task # 4:Online Course on Resume Writing

Goal: Keep complete focus and attention

My last task for this project was to take an online course on resume writing. The course was difficult and I was only able to do 20% of the course in 25 minutes (thanks to PTCL internet). I walked for 5 minutes after the task to straighten my posture and went back to the course.

My takeaway from this experiment:

I was actually able to complete 60% of my work on the to-do list before 11:00 am which is a huge success for me, Woohoo. My brain has multiple windows at the same time so even if I am doing one thing at a time, I am thinking of all the other things I have to do. This builds up so much in my head that I have to take a break. I also fail to pay 100% attention to the task at hand.

With this task I learned that I can pay attention to one project at a time because the presence of timer already established in my brain that we will get to other projects later. My work quality also improved.

Week Update:

I tried to keep doing this for a week and there were many problems but by Thursday I had grown used to the technique so my ability to ignore notifications went from 10% to 30%. I plan on doing this for all of the tasks I have to do ever in my life.