Tag: “Techniques”

GTD, Autofocus, ZTD, Pomodoro technique, Personal Kanban… Personal productivity has always been surrounded by different formal methods intended to systematize our behavior to make it less erratic and allow us to better focus on what we have to do. From time to time there is a new method — or a variation of an existing one — supported by a handful of evangelists, which enjoys a period of relative popularity… until it is replaced by the next.

Do you feel you are not being productive? Does your time go by and you don’t know exactly why? Whatever personal productivity system you are using—and even if you’re not using one at all—the most simple and direct method to increase your productivity is to write down the time you spend getting different things done throughout your day.

Are you always busy? Do you often feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to do? If you have entered a cycle where you don’t even have time to think, you can be sure that while you are doing many things, most of them will not make any real difference in your sense of being overwhelmed. Sometimes being busy is just a form of lazy thinking and ineffective action.

Productivity is not about trying to get more done every day and filling every second of your time with something so you feel busy. Being busy may make you look like a good employee, but that is a false type of productivity.

I know the Pomodoro technique long time ago, but I have always been rather reluctant to use it. After seeing how widespread is this technique in the world of programming and how it is recommended by some well-known developers, I think I was just having too many prejudices. In any case, trying it for a few days would not hurt me. If it did not work for me, I would not use it anymore.