In the last year, I:
Created and produced 30 full length video courses for Pluralsight
Wrote 56 blog posts
Produced 40 episodes of the Get Up and CODE podcast
Created 50 YouTube videos
Published a book
Spoke at 4 events
Billed over 100 hours of contract work
Created a full product, that I am about ready to launch
Ran 5 kilometers 3 times a week, every week
Lifted weights 3 times a week, every week
I’m not saying this to brag–although I am certainly proud of these accomplishments. I am saying these things to prove that I know what I am talking about when it comes to productivity.
Being super productive
Right now–as I type–I have a timer ticking down. The clock shows approximately 14 minutes before I’ll take my next break. I live and die by this clock.
Live and die by clock thumb My Secret To Ridiculous Productivity. (Im Using It Now)
You may have guessed it, but the clock is a Pomodoro timer. For the last year, I’ve been religiously using the Pomodoro technique to not only stay on task, but to plan out my days and weeks.
If you aren’t familiar with the Pomodoro technique, the concept is remarkably simple. So simple, that I first dismissed it as ridiculous. But, thanks to my good friend Josh Earl’s success with it, I decided to give it another try.
You basically set a timer for 25 minutes. During that time you pick a single task to accomplish and work on that task, uninterrupted. After 25 minutes you take a break for 5 minutes and then begin again. After 4 cycles, you take a longer 15 minute break. (There are some variations on this, but that is the basic idea.)
Like I said, it seems pretty simple and unremarkable, but I can’t even begin to express how powerful this technique is for getting things done.
