Those who know me well fully understand has much the POMODORO technique has been an enormous help and a valuable tool for me since becoming my own boss.

A time management technique developed in the late eighties, this simple but oh so effective method involves setting a timer and working solidly for 25 minutes on a particular project, before breaking for a short while and then continuing on again working on another part for yet another 25 minutes.

Could POMODORO Help You Get More Done?

If, despite having worked a whole day at your PC on a number of things, most of your time has actually involved procrastinating or looking into things that haven’t offered any real value, you may find POMODORO a breath of fresh air. The concept here is to get you to focus.

How To Combine POMODORO and Excel?

With most of us doing the majority of our work on a PC or laptop, POMODORO and Excel can be the most perfect companions.

On a dedicated Excel tab, start a row off with:

• Type of task
• Time started
• Time finished
• Total time

In the total time box, insert the calculation of time finished less time started.

Then, when you are ready to begin, type in the time you start into the sheet and hit your timer for 25 minutes. Once the timer goes off, add this time to the time finished tab and watch as the 25 minutes appear in the total time formula box.

Repeat this every time you have a Pomodoro session and over the space of a day, highlight your tasks into specific sections, for example, client work, admin, finances, and you’ll soon start to see how much you can get done when you set your mind, or in this case, timer to it!