{"id":6379,"date":"2017-10-16T11:16:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T11:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/cel\/?p=6379"},"modified":"2017-10-18T13:13:20","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T13:13:20","slug":"taking-back-control-of-your-time-10-minutes-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/2017\/10\/16\/taking-back-control-of-your-time-10-minutes-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking back control of your time \u2013 10 minutes at a time."},"content":{"rendered":"

My\u00a0timer is set for 10 minutes and I am now sitting comfortably ready to write this update on experiences of using the \u2018Pomodoro Technique\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising that colleagues tell me that needing to find more time is a key challenge and I hear this quite regularly in my travels as Head of Service Excellence \u2013 and what that often means is finding more time for value adding activity.\u00a0 So any hints and tips on this topic are always welcome, hence my interest in the Pomodoro Technique (Cirillocompany.de,2017).<\/p>\n

My first blog on this topic included offering a Pomodoro (tomato shaped timers \u2013 very retro) to colleagues, who would in turn feedback their experiences of using their Pomodoro. First, a recap.<\/p>\n

Our busy lives often mean we are doing many\u00a0things at once, \u00a0multi-tasking. In many cases this is unavoidable we need to stop what we are doing to support a student at our door, respond to something urgent for a colleague, plus family and other commitments can rock up any time. There are times however, where we just allow distractions to happen, in the middle of writing an article or blog you take a peep at emails, get caught up in something else then go back to the first task and the moment has gone, all those great thoughts lost – so off you go to get on with another pressing task.\u00a0 You get through another day with many half – finished tasks. If this sounds familiar try out the Pomodoro technique. The tomato shaped timers are available for just a few pounds from Amazon (and other kitchen gadget retailers). Then decide on the task you want to get on with, find a quiet space and set the timer for 5, 10 or 20 minutes and head down get on with task until the alarm rings.\u00a0 And do feedback your experiences.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

We have received examples of using the technique in writing retreats, learning and teaching, seminar groups and Dr Lois Farquharson has uploaded a VLOG to her twitter account @LoisFarquharson –\u00a0to give an update of her experience.\u00a0 The results so far have proved very positive.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I have been taking the Pomodoro\u00a0on a tour.\u00a0Last Friday I enjoyed an amazing time at Edinburgh Napier University, having been invited to speak at their BIG event hosted by Steve Yorkstone, Chair of Lean HE. The theme of the BIG event was \u2013 \u2018Say it, Share it and Do it\u2019 \u2013 a great project to empower staff to take forward improvement ideas.<\/p>\n

We used\u00a0a whole team of Pomodoro; they were the centre of attention and did a great job in keeping the agenda on track whilst delegates focused on the activities. One idea I will be keeping an eye on focuses on time management during meetings, using \u2026 you guessed it the Pomodoro.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\n

I was also honoured to be given an unexpected role in the day – with so many ideas being generated by the teams at Napier, I was given a whole ten pounds by Dr Gerry Webber, University Secretary and invited to take my place as the<\/strong> \u201cDragon in the Den\u201d. \u00a0I quickly got into the role, with a ready scowl and keenness to find a problem to fit every solution, as the teams pitched their improvement idea to me. It was then left for me to decide where to invest Gerry\u2019s ten pounds \u2013 a great responsibility and I hope it is spent wisely.<\/p>\n

Just in case you are wondering, the service excellence finger puppets helped to introduce the importance of happiness and fun at work, using insights from Marcus Buckingham and his #Love+Work road show as well as Cialdini\u2019s theory of influence and reciprocity.<\/p>\n

For more information:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/cirillocompany.de\/pages\/pomodoro-technique<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.marcusbuckingham.com\/lovework\/join-me\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.influenceatwork.com\/dr-robert-cialdini-on-the-principle-of-reciprocity\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My\u00a0timer is set for 10 minutes and I am now sitting comfortably ready to write this update on experiences of using the \u2018Pomodoro Technique\u2019. It\u2019s not surprising that colleagues tell me that needing to find more time is a key challenge and I hear this quite regularly in my travels as Head of Service Excellence… Read more » about Taking back control of your time \u2013 10 minutes at a time.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1276,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,91,132,5],"tags":[64],"class_list":["post-6379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-case-studies-in-bu","category-cel-staff","category-co-creation","category-news","tag-service-excellence"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6387,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6379\/revisions\/6387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}