It is said that the length of a minute is not absolute, but depends on which side of the bathroom door you’re on. Find ways to make those long moments work for rather than against you with our 12 Days of Time Management for Teens:
Only Take Planned Breaks
Do ripe, red, juicy tomatoes inspire you to get to work? If so, you’ve probably already heard of the Pomodoro Technique, a time management method developed by an inspired individual named Francesco Cirillo. He discovered that focused bursts of uninterrupted activity interspersed with brief planned breaks produced an optimized work flow. Cirillo named his technique not out of any serious love for Solanum lycopersicum but rather for the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used as a college student.
The Pomodoro Technique is rather simple to understand and implement. Determine which task you are going to tackle and decide how long each work interval will be. The standard interval in this technique, which is called a pomodoro, is 25 minutes.
Set your timer (not necessarily tomato-shaped) and work without interruption. Seriously, ignore calls, social media, bathroom breaks, and the like. You’ll have time for all that during the 5-minute break that follows each pomodoro. Then start another work interval. Pomodoro practitioners usually chain four consecutive pomodori and breaks into a set, which is followed by a longer rest of 15-30 minutes.
Does the Pomodoro Technique work? Adherents swear by the increased focus this process encourages. While the process does require a bit of a learning curve, those who stick with it long enough to determine their optimal pomodori and breaks see breakthroughs in quality and quantity of work. Even if you don’t like tomatoes, you might want to try this technique for yourself!
The 12 Days of Time Management for Teens is inspired by and draws liberally from Etienne Garbugli’s excellent Slideshare presentation, 26 Time Management Hacks I Wish I’d Known at 20. Obviously, we think this advice is valuable even for students younger than 20!
Mike Bergin