This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Let's talk about the Pomodoro method. This is one of my favorite productivity hacks/tools. You're probably familiar with it or you might be familiar with it. Basically, it's a timer-based method of working on something like a specific task, perhaps something you've been procrastinating, or perhaps some creative work that you want to kind of dive into without interruption. And then so you do that for a certain amount of time.
It's often 25 minutes. That can vary. And then you take a little forced break. You take a forced break for five minutes. Again, that can vary.
Then you do another Pomodoro method. So I use this all the time. I mean, it's how I have written a lot of books. And today we've got a listener. Let's see, this is Karina from Toronto.
And she is an artisan. She crafts custom jewelry. And so she's working on her side hustle, but she's wondering about how to manage her time effectively. And can she use this Pomodoro method? How can she use it?
Perhaps that's the best question. How can this listener or anyone use the Pomodoro method in building their side hustle? Especially for, in her case, like she's a little unsure about it because of the hands-on nature of her side hustle in terms of the crafting and such. So I thought this was interesting. Let's dive into the question, see if we can provide some practical advice, maybe help somebody out there with procrastination or doing more creative work today.
Let's be action focused. Like why not, right? Let's see what we can do to improve ourselves today. So how to use the Pomodoro method in your side hustle? That's the question.
Quick little shout out from our sponsor. And then we're gonna dive into it in more detail. [Music]
Hi, my name is Karina and I'm in Toronto, Canada. I came across your podcast while looking for guidance on productivity and time management for side hustles. Recently, I've been reading about the Pomodoro technique of working for 25 minutes at a time.
However, I'm not entirely sure how to effectively implement this method in my side hustle, which involves creating custom-made jewelry, especially considering the hands-on nature of my work. How can I best use my limited time while also keeping myself focused on important tasks? [Music]
Hey, Karina, awesome. Thanks for the question. Excited to hear about your side hustle as well.
And as I mentioned, I'm a big fan of this technique, this method, I've adapted it in my own way. The cool thing about this method is it's so flexible. You know, you can just, the principle is just like to work on something for a fixed amount of time, then take a break, then return to it. It helps with focus. So it's really general.
It can be, you know, mixed up in lots of different ways. For me, I do that 25 minute, sometimes 25 to 30 minute kind of thing. And then I take a break and I try to accumulate, you know, a number of Pomodoro's throughout the day. It definitely helps when I'm working on a book or some longer form kind of project. I also do it when I'm working on the podcast.
I'm like, okay, you know, for the next 25 minutes, this is what I'm working on. I'm working on the scripts and preparing everything or recording, you know, and then I'm gonna take a break and do something else. So I think in the situation where you're doing this more hands-on kind of work, where you might get in the flow of making something and you wanna keep doing it, you know, that's good. But the whole point of the Pomodoro method is it gives you a break. Like the break is also good for you, right?
The break actually allows you to have sustained focus. So you might just wanna adjust the timing or the length of them. So instead of 25 minutes, it could be 45 minutes, you know, even an hour. Usually you don't wanna go much more than that, but you know, it just depends on you. And then take, you know, that maybe a little bit longer of a break, 10 to 15 minutes before starting another period of focus work.
Again, it's like super flexible. You can do it lots of ways. But when you're trying to build a side hustle, I think it does help to say, okay, I've got very limited time, you know, today I'm only gonna have perhaps, you know, two Pomodoros, like whatever your side hustle is for somebody else, let's say, they're only gonna have, you know, 25 minutes times two. So what am I gonna spend that time on? I think that's the other very important thing with a strategy like this is to know in advance how you're gonna spend that time, then spend that time only on that strategy, that webpage copy your writing or whatever it is, you know, and avoid getting distracted.
Some people even like turn the internet off if they're working on their computer and they don't need the internet for this particular task. Again, it's a relatively easy thing because the time is not that long. You're like, oh, I'm procrastinating, I'm fighting this, I get it, I do it all the time. But if you're like, oh, can you just work on it for 25 minutes? Okay, that's fair.
And then once you get into it, you realize, oh, I can keep going probably, I can probably do another one of these or I can do it tomorrow without dreading it so much. So that's the cool thing about it. I definitely recommend it, use it in different ways. Let us know how it goes. Good luck up there.
Hope to see you in Toronto soon. I'm gonna be on book tour next month. Listeners, if you have a question, sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them every week. In fact, new episode every day, it's all completely free.
You can subscribe, follow wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chris Guillebeau, your host of "Side Hustle School." [Music]
