Watch the clip above to see Staffan Noteberg’s talk about Pomodoro technique – a perfect way to eliminate procrastination and increase productivity at work.

Here’s the synopsis of Noteberg’s talk about the famous Italian timeboxing method:

“You have so much you need to accomplish today. Your list is a mile long and you find yourself getting interrupted every other minute. You’d like to tell everyone to leave you alone, but most of the interruptions are coming from you! You think of a phone call you need to make or a web site you need to check and before you know it you’re answering email, checking twitter, and finding a million other things to occupy your time.

You need to focus – really focus.

The Pomodoro Technique puts you back in charge of your day. You’ll apply successful techniques from software engineering to identify what you should be doing today and to help you achieve your goals. Your mind won’t wander when it is fully engaged in short bursts of focused activity.”

Source: Parleys.com

Learn to work less and accomplish more using nothing more than paper, pencil, and a simple kitchen timer.

If you’re new about Pomodoro technique – read more about it here.

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One thing is certain: the most effective and successful people are experts in time management and they have the same number of hours in the day as you do. So time management has nothing to do with magically expanding time to suit your needs, but of using it effectively. It is a question of self-management rather than time-management.

Here are some tips on utilizing your time effectively:

1. Identify what is really important in your life and build your activities and goals around these big rocks. Having clear Core Values will avoid decision paralysis.
2. Identify what are your time wasters: how much time do you spend watching TV? How many activities do you do that can be delegated to others? Do you live in a cluttered environment that drains your energy? Which activities can you eliminate without any particularly important repercussions? How much time do you spend worrying over things that are not within your circle of influence?
3. Eliminate procrastination. Just stop it plain and simple. Identify why you are procrastinating and challenge your assumptions. Are you a perfectionist?- learn how to manage it. Do you create a huge To Do list that’s impossible to go through? – cut out on the list. Do you feel overwhelmed with some large tasks? – chunk them down in smaller activities… and just DO it.
4. Use a planning system such as a To Do list everyday. Having a To Do list will help you to focus on the Big Rocks of life especially if you prioritize well.
5. Plan the hardest task and DO IT the first thing so that you get over the hardest task early on when you have high energy levels- in other words, as they say: eat your frog.
6. Learn to time activities correctly. I find that people who are not outstanding achievers generally lack the ability to time activities effectively. If you do not time activities effectively you will find yourself sliding off your schedule and missing out on important activities.
7. Focus on the task at hand. Do not start doing many things at the same time. Chunk big jobs into smaller ones, focus on the particular task, get it done and then move on. And please – do not give me the multi tasking excuse. Yes you can multi-task but you have to be focused on the task at hand.
8. Do not handle an activity twice when you can finish it in one sequence. E.g unless you are sure you can take the time to answer an email or a letter right away- do not open it.
9. Give a strict time frame to meetings or activities. Make sure you come out with clear actions from the meeting as otherwise it is just a waste of time.
10. Drop tasks that you do not need to do or those which are of no benefit. Learn to delegate effectively. Make sure that you delegate to people who have the knowledge and skills and delegate a task completely. Offer help if required but don’t breath down people’s necks.
11. Avoid being distracted by requests or telephones during activities which you need to focus on intensively. Give clear instructions that you are not to be disturbed unless the office is on fire.
12. Never leave the scene of a situation that requires a decision without taking a specific action. Taking an action right away will ensure you save time in the future. If you keep procrastinating on an action you need to take it will come back to you with a vengeance and you will waste more time trying to solve the repercussions.

To receive a FREE Report that provides information on the 10 Vital Keys to Life Success and other resources visit http://www.insightzonecoach.com or http://www.insightzonecoach.com/blog.

Reggie Aquilina is the Founder of Insight Zone Academy. He is a Life Coach and works in the field of Adult Learning and Development. He is actively involved in providing e-learning resources related to Life Coaching and he is the creator of the Life Coaching Home Study Course: The 10 PowerKeys Program.

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Sometimes I just couldn’t tolerate with too much opinions – especially those which are baseless opinions. Therefore you should follow your conscience before you make any crucial decisions. In order words, your common sense is important in making fast decisions. Maybe you should try bittergourd and cabbage juice.

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• They couldn’t read the instructions properly – they might miss a few steps or overlook a few steps
• They couldn’t read maps – tend to lose their way in a city cause they have no-sense of direction
• They were basically indecisive in making quick decisions – they would frequently ask for confirmation from others before making a right decision. As a result, they tend to make bad decision that made people turned away from them.

Frankly speaking, I’m one of them – yeah, it’s true!  You would label them as losers or a born loser. Specifically, there are few problems being one of them. Here are these problems:

• I’m unable to write essays in normal people write it from A-to-Z, i.e. first, you would write the heading, content body, and the ending. I had these problems since I was a primary student (aged less than 11), and my mom complained that I wrote stories with inappropriate sequences. It sounded like a train that is moving a derailed railway road.
• I’m bad at directions but I can read the maps. At some circumstances, I would take more than three trips (to and fro) to remember the route to a destination. Unlike my dad my (ahem) big brother, they are natural-born-travelers. That’s why I need to have a road map in my car, in case I got lost in the middle of nowhere.

I can say I’m doer-person, a self-confessed procrastinator, an ‘idealist’, a worker,  a blogger and etc – I’m just a normal being like you.

How do I deal with these problems? First, I have to be very honest to myself and accept who I am and the weakness that I possess. There’s nothing to ashamed of by being ‘real’ you.

Since I had realized my problems that I described earlier, I’ve to come of a right solution for myself. So, the next question is – How should I do when I couldn’t do things in order? You might say this – create a task list, get an electronic organizer, set an alarm and etc. Well, I can say it works for me but I don’t depend on it all the time.

It is because I’ve found a better solution – I’ve few stacks of post-it pads and I use it by drawing simple diagrams on it. It sounds simple – yeah, it surely did! I had the habit of scribbling notes and drawing small diagrams on the margins on the handouts, notebooks but not on reference books and novels (no drawings are allowed in these areas!).

When I have something on my mind, I’ll jot it down on a piece of paper or text it with my cellphone (which i can save it in my cellphone so that I can view it later). Why jotting it down on a post-it pad?

Most of the time, post-it pads were not reachable at that moment and I would not use that as an excuse to lose an idea or an event. Who knows it would come in handy someday? If you think you can afford to lose ideas all the time, then you should stop reading this post immediately.

I don’t usually bother with the sequences and the description of an idea. Thus, browse through what I’ve written earlier and try to interpret it before I draw and write on my paper notebook or post-it pads. Previously, I had tried both notebook and post-it pads but in the end I would prefer to use post-it pads due to its convenience – it’s arrangeable and it’s easy to be discarded (and one more, it’s sticky!).

It’s a complete disaster if you force yourself to become creative. Creativity is like a spark of fire -  if there’s a friction between two ends, sparks will be emerged. But if you’re creating too much sparks at that moment, you’ll probably will be ended up like a roasted chicken. If you have a topic to discuss, start to sort out your information that you gathered earlier.

This involves Getting Things Done (GTD) technique to organize your information. Therefore, it requires elimination process to get rid of redundant or irrelevant information. It is crucial for selecting information before you start drawing.

It is difficult in the beginning, but you’ll get along with the process if you practice it at a regular basis. If you want to use your simple drawings in your presentation, it’s preferable to redraw or make necessary changes on it before your view your final drawings in front of your audience.

If you feel that your drawings are too abstract or difficult to understand, it’s better to tone down your drawings and make it simpler. Like a memorable quote from Einstein:

“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”

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