Work methods

Principle 2 of 6

Six methods, but not all at once

The point isn’t to use every one of them.Pick the system that fixes your biggest problem right now, test it, and keep what works.

What’s getting in your way right now?

Or pick your name in the “Who are you?” menu, top right, for a suggestion that fits your work.

Our pick, not from the graphic

Pomodoro

Start with 25 minutes, not a whole day.The break comes anyway, so you have a place to stop.

Jump to Pomodoro

Pomodoro Technique

Work in timed intervals

A timer decides when you work and stop.After four intervals, you take a longer break.

  1. List your tasks.
  2. Set a 25-min timer.
  3. Focus and work.
  4. Take a 5-min break.
  5. Repeat 4 times, then break for longer.
A tomato-shaped kitchen timer
The tomato timer that named the method: pomodoro is Italian for tomato.Erato · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Simulated time:1 minute = 0.1 seconds

Task list

    25:00

    Pomodoro 1 of 4 · ready to startleft out of 25 minutes

    Illustrative model.The graphic doesn’t say how long the longer break lasts, so it has no minutes here.

    3/3/3 Method

    Your day in three parts

    Spend 3 hours working on an important project.Complete 3 shorter urgent tasks or meetings.Do 3 maintenance tasks to keep life running smoothly.

    Three 3s: three hours of project work, three urgent tasks, three maintenance tasks
    3 hours on a project, 3 urgent tasks, 3 maintenance tasks.From the @financialsimplified post
    3 hImportant project
    3 h
    3Urgent tasks or meetings
    1
    2
    3
    3Maintenance
    1
    2
    3

    An important project

      The examples are ours, not from the graphic.Not to scale: the graphic gives no durations for the smaller tasks.

      Eisenhower Matrix

      How important, how urgent

      Does it matter, and is it on fire?Your two answers send the task to a quadrant that tells you what to do with it.

      The Eisenhower matrix: do, schedule, delegate, eliminate
      The matrix from the graphic: do it, schedule it, delegate it or eliminate it.From the @financialsimplified post

      Selected task

      Urgent Not Urgent Important
      Do it
      Schedule it
      Not Important
      Delegate it
      Eliminate it

      The tasks are examples we adapted, not from the graphic.

      Eat the Frog

      The hardest task goes first

      Do your hardest task first.The rest will be easier.

      “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
      Mark Twain, as credited in the graphic
      The attribution is disputed: Quote Investigator finds no evidence that Twain said it.
      A line drawing of a frog seen from above
      The frog from the graphic: the hardest task, first.From the @financialsimplified post

      Today’s tasks

        Weight on your mind hard task done
        5

        An illustration, not a measurement: the tasks and the weight on your mind are a model.

        Seinfeld Strategy

        Don’t break the chain

        Every day you do it adds a link.The streak is your reason to keep going.

        1. Set your goal.
        2. Mark a calendar each day you do it.
        3. Keep the streak as long as you can.
        4. Never miss 2 days in a row.
        A calendar page for June, with the days you tick off
        A calendar with ticked days: keep the chain unbroken.From the @financialsimplified post

        Daily goal

        Press a day to mark it or clear it.Try June 9: with June 8 missed, the chain breaks.

        June

        16

        The marked days are an example.Weeks start on Monday here, Sunday in the graphic.

        Time Blocking

        Every task gets its own time

        You give your day blocks instead of a list.When the day slips, move a block and keep going.

        1. Identify what needs doing.
        2. Group similar activities together.
        3. Assign time slots for tasks.
        4. Plot blocks on a calendar.
        5. Stick to the schedule.
        6. Take breaks between blocks.
        7. Make changes if needed.
        A day split by the hour: deep work, email, lunch, gym, break, meetings
        A day in time blocks, from deep work to meetings.From the @financialsimplified post

        The day

        3 h