The Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirilli in the eighties. The word “Pomodoro” literally means tomato in the Italian language and he used the word because most timers look something like a tomato. He used the technique with great success as a undergrad student. Today it is essentially considered a great tool to beat procrastination. If your homeschool student has trouble with a certain subject and has a tendency to not want to study it, choosing a relatively easier subject instead, you may want to introduce the Pomodoro Technique to them. This is how it works.
1. Decide on the task that needs to be completed.
2. Set the timer to 25 minutes.
3. Now focus and work on completing the task that you have set yourself for the duration till the timer rings.
4. Reward yourself for the total concentration you have given to the task that you would have hopefully completed in the 25 minutes.
If you are distracted by a thought during this period, just write it down on a specific sheet of paper and return your attention to the task at hand. Most people tend to procrastinate learning new or unfamiliar skills because they feel a sense of discomfort as they move beyond the boundaries of what they know. By following the Pomodoro technique and focussing on the task or skill to be learnt, one is able to move past that initial scary feeling of moving out of your comfort zone. Plus it allows the homeschool student the opportunity to see that the big boogie was really not such a big problem when you began working on it.
In order to have a truly effective day in the homeschool classroom, you could have a set of four tasks set up for the day. Once the first task is done tick it off the list, take a ten minute break and then restart the Pomodoro Technique with the second task. Once you have ticked off the four main tasks for the day you are sure that you have had a truly productive day. Now get set for the nice reward that you have promised yourself for completing all that work.
