As I am inching closer and closer to maternity leave the exhaustion is getting more extreme, while the to-do list seems to get bigger somehow. Some items are not truly important at this point, yet others I do need to get wrapped up before the baby comes. Fourth crop haylage and corn silage are looming overhead too, which is why I am utilizing one of my favorite time management techniques.
Every morning I like to come in and write my to-do list down. This goes for personal and work items. When you work during regular business hours, there usually isn’t a lot of time to get appointments in or even calls for personal affairs to be done. This is where the Pomodoro technique comes in.
Set that to-do list with the very most important items at the beginning. I also put tasks that may require more of my undivided attention and brain power at the beginning of the day. By the time 2:30 pm rolls around I am like a squirrel. My attention span is gone. This is when I do quick short, easy tasks or items that are busy work but still have to be done. Think filing papers.
At home I like to come up with my meal plan and start on that or do some of the organizing of paperwork and mail. As previously mentioned my ambition is at its highest in the morning. Therefore, folding clothes and washing dishes are saved for later in the day.
The Pomodoro Technique is:
1. Get a to-do list and a timer.
2. Set your timer for 25 minutes, and focus on a single task until the timer rings.
3. When your session ends, mark off one pomodoro and record what you completed.
4. Then enjoy a five-minute break.
5. After four pomodoros, take a longer, more restorative 15-30 minute break.
I use my 5 minute break to shoot off that text about Seint, make the call about an appointment, browse social media and other personal things. This way I don’t interrupt my real job/important household work with mundane personal things. Sometimes my pomodoros don’t last the full 25 minutes and that’s ok too.
I use the nooks and crannies of my day to fit in, my side-hustle Seint business, making sure daycare is lined up for the upcoming week, scheduling appointments, and all of the other mom and working-farm wife duties there are.
Have you tried this time management technique? Will you give it a shot? Let me know below!
Leave a Reply