The Promodoro Technique (Eve Curras)

    I think it's time I come clean.  I have been suffering from a harrowing disease all my life.  It began when I first entered kindergarten, and I have yet to come to terms with exactly why I have had to suffer these long years.  This illness I'm burdened with is time-consuming, exhausting, and downright impractical.  You might be wondering what exactly I suffer from.  I assure you, it is a lot more common than what you might be thinking.  I, like many of my fellow peers, teachers and elders, am a victim of procrastination.

    As I said previously, this all began at the keen age of five.  Even then I enjoyed flirting with the boundaries of time.  All my live I have resented authority and any obligation that does not comply with my wants.  Although you might be scoffing at my referring to procrastination as a disease, there have been times in my life where it has caused me physical pain.  My English teacher once kicked my shins because I incessantly right my papers at the very last minute.  Although she did not actually kick me, I live in constant fear.

    One day when I was putting off, yet another English assignment, I decided that my work-technique was in dire need of change.  Instead of beginning the assignment, I decided to look up videos on how to cure procrastination.  (true story)  After around two hours of "research," I stumbled upon an interesting and simplistic solution for all the time-benders out there.  It's called The Promodoro Technique.  The Promodoro technique tackles basically the biggest issue in the mind of procrastinators, which is simply beginning.  It was developed in the 1980s by a man named Francesco Cirillo.  The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally twenty-five minutes in length, separated by short breaks.  Although extremely simple, this method worked wonders.

    My biggest problem with schoolwork is simply starting the assignments.  I can write for hours upon hours, but the idea or writing an introductory paragraph makes me cringe.  Using the Promodoro technique, which demands twenty-five minutes of your undivided attention, I found that I had no choice but to push through.  The writing-process takes care of the rest.

    My reason in writing this blog post it to help all of my fellow peers who struggle with time-managment.  I know that life is hard and balancing academics, extra-circulars meanwhile trying to get eight hours of sleep is nearly impossible, but there are methods to make your life easier.  Whoever is reading this, go set a timer.  Do whatever work you have been painfully ignoring and go on with life.  And also, don't lie to yourself that you're doing "research" on procrastination.  Face it-- you have a problem.  Get off of YouTube.