Next week I have allotted 9 days to write a course. I have wanted to write this course for 5 years or more. I’ve done all my research, now I just need to write it down.
Parkinson’s Law
Parkinson’s law states that it will fill the allotted time you set to complete a task.
Think about it.
If you give yourself a month to do a task, you will do it in a month, even putting it off until the last few days, because you know you have plenty of time.
Add fill time so you don’t feel under pressure.
I heard myself say I can’t write my course in 9 days, because if I could do that, what does that say about all the years I’ve put off? So I better hang it to make it look like it was a labor of love.
As if it would have more value if it took me more time.
One suggestion is to think about what time you think you could do a task, then stop it.
Pomodoro Technique
The pomodoro technique is to assign a time, say 25 minutes (this is the traditional pomodoro timer number of minutes), and just work hard to do that task, then when the timer goes off, you have a break. 3-5 minutes. Write a 1 on a piece of paper. Then reset the timer. When you get to 4 on your paper, take a longer break, 15 to 30 minutes.
Or say allocate an hour to clean your house and then stop. So strive for that hour. Then break.
There are also applications for the pomodoro technique.
Pomodoro means tomato in Italian, which is the look of the stopwatch of the guy who created this technique.
objections
I am aware of all the resistances I have to do things concentrated and even fast. That if I do it too fast I’ll miss things.
As if taking your time and stretching it out means you have more time to think about things. But usually you don’t, you procrastinate. Either you check Facebook, or you get up to eat, or you lose count and do other things. Because you think taking your time is easier.
I never liked having a timer on things as it stressed me out. And I was worried I would have adrenal fatigue from exerting myself.
Too much of a test.
But my life has changed enough that I want to try this now.
Remember to write down things that come to mind about other things you want to do after completing your task. Don’t do them during the allotted time.
Let me know if you use this technique to do things.
