I wanted to share a quick tip that helps me with my executive dysfunction around working from home, making sure I don’t get fixated, and getting the cleaning done.
One major problem I have is that I sit at my desk to draw the comic, feeling bad that the house isn’t getting cleaned and also feeling bad that the comic isn’t being written either.
Last year I read about the Pomodoro technique of time management, where you split your time into thirty minute slots. Luckily for me, thirty minutes is a perfect time for me to work on something.
I set a timer for thirty minutes, and when it goes off, I get up and walk around for five minutes. After two hours of this, I have a longer wander of about 20 minutes, and also do some cleaning around the house.
Another tip is because I don’t remember what needs doing, and jobs like ‘clean kitchen’ are too abstract, I have a list of all the jobs that I can do on a clipboard, and on my longer break, I do one of those. If it said ‘clean kitchen’, I’d feel overwhelmed, so instead it says ‘clean kitchen floor’.
I treated myself to an Apple Watch, which has a handy timer, as well as a reminder to stand up every hour built in – which is handy in case I decide to ignore the timer (which happens, I’m only human).
So if you’re struggling with staying on task, or balancing working with looking after the house during lockdown, why not try a variation of this technique that works for you.
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