Ripeness!
Well, well, well, in my last posting I stated that I was going to employ the Pomodoro technique to my work ethic and that I'd report back to tell you how it worked out. I'm glad to say that it was a productive effort. I was able to create a large volume of music in a relatively small period of time and I got better and more efficient at translating what was in my head over to my hard drive.
In addition to my productive Pomodoroing, I decided to take a break from posting on my two web sites, this one and Singleparentchef.com. The summer is a time for relaxation and retooling and that's exactly what I did. Now that the calendar has turned and the temperatures are getting lower and lower, I'm back at the keyboard.
So let me tell you what the Pomodoro method did for me.
1) It focused me - I had my timer set on my iPhone and it kept ticking away as I was working. Although I didn't have the ticking sound on while working on music (that would have made my drumming very confused), it's presence with it's impending 'ding' mere minutes away, kept me on task in a way that regular work would not have.
Just go outside for 30 minutes!!!
2) It kept me healthy - one of the pitfalls of working in the studio is that you sit and then you sit some more. This behavior is not healthy, hence the trend toward standing desks, even standing desks with treadmills! With the Pomodoro method, you are required to get up every 25 minutes and take a break for 5 and then 15 for every 4th Pomodoro. Simply getting up and stretching made a huge difference in the condition of my bedraggled back.
3) It engendered creativity - sometimes when I am creating music, I tend to get stuck thinking about whether or not something is 'right'. As my Dad called it: "navel staring". With the synthetic pressure of the Pomodoro, I found I just 'went with it' - let my subconscious speak. The results were, for me, amazing! Things came to the fore that would have otherwise been dismissed had I allowed myself to think about it too much.
4) I got more done - the 5 minute breaks were meant to take a break from the current work, that doesn't mean you can't stretch and then make a call to the bank or schedule a meeting or answer an email during that time. I found that the time I usually took to do menial tasks around the house was reduced when fitting them into my Pomodoro schedule.
I know that there are more benefits to this method than what I've mentioned, but suffice it to say that it was so beneficial, that I have continued to use it as part of my daily routine. In fact I'm writing the post within one Pomodoro at this very moment! Oops, done early...hey! I can review my work now, just like the Pomodoro method suggests!
DING!