Published on 12, July, 2020
I’m an apprentice and I love my apprenticeship. I get every Wednesday off for college work and I’m on my second to last assignment. But I’m finding this one really hard. Some days I can be on a role and wrote loads hitting all the marks but today I can barely form a paragraph and feel like I’m getting nowhere
Go on, boy.
Excellent! I'm so glad that you're finding it useful, Ree.
Ok, I'm testing the pomodoro today for the first time and so far it's working just amazingly! Thank you for your comment. I'll continue testing it
Hi Andi, this sounds so familiar to me and I know just how frustrating it can be. You're not alone.
Recently I have started using the pomodoro technique to help improve my focus. It works by dedicating set amounts of time to focus that are in manageable chunks and giving yourself rest breaks. I use a 25 minute focus/5 minute break split but on bad days I have used 5/5 which has been much more productive than what I felt was just starting at my screen! There's information about this technique here https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/pomodoro-technique
There are loads of different apps you can use to help manage your time in this way, you can also find music videos on YouTube with these timers built in. I personally use an app on Android called Forest. It plants a virtual tree whenever I complete a focus session and that helps keep me motivated to continue - it's also nice to see my forest grow in the day!
I find that after a couple of cycles my brain can sometimes kick back into gear and start focusing again, and sometimes I can then stop using the timer - though I then like to use it to remind myself to take breaks.
While in focus mode I use the digital wellbeing settings on my phone to mute non essential apps to reduce my chances of procrastinating and stop notifications popping up and distracting me.
I hope this helps!
Maybe take a break and when you get back, list out the key points you need to get across. Once you have those key points, pick one and sort that. Deal with the next one once you have finished the first.
Basically, try to break the task into small chunks until you have a chunk you can manage.
I don't know if this is your case, but my performance isn't consistent at all. Some days I can achieve 12hours amount of work in 8 hours and some days I can barely do 3. Maybe give yourself some rest, recharge?
you cant get anywhere, if your already at the destination! lol