How To Overcome Procrastination Using a Modified Pomodoro Method | NEURODIVERGENT FRIENDLY

If you are neurodivergent and struggle with task initiation, procrastination, and time blindness, modifying the Pomodoro Technique to work for your brain may become your new favorite productivity tip.

Watch the video below, or read on for the full transcript.

If you are neurodivergent or a spoonie and are tired of doing things the neurotypical, able-bodied, and toxic way, this is the place for you to be. Subscribe to my channel and hit the bell to be notified when I post a new video every other Tuesday.

In my signature program, The Action Navigator, I help students master a tool set for genuine self care and develop a bias toward action so they can finally believe in and trust themselves enough to spend their precious time and energy the way they want to.

And one of those tools is the modified Pomodoro Technique you are about to learn. Let's get to it, shall we?

Before we can modify it, we need to know what the Pomodoro Method is in the first place. Here's a crash course.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management framework that alternates bursts of focused work with short periods of rest. A standard Pomodoro sequence looks like this:

Typically, you do four Pomodoros in a row, and the first three Pomodoros are 25 minutes of work, followed by a quick five minute rest or break in order to recover.

And then the final one, after you've done your fourth 25 minute work period, your break is then longer, 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how much you need to recover. And then you start all over again.

Ultimately, one Pomodoro tends to mean 25 minutes of work and five minutes of rest, except for after the fourth Pomodoro in which you get a longer break.

Fun fact, the Pomodoro Technique was developed in the late eighties by Francesco Cirilo, (apologies for my pronunciation) who used a tomato shaped kitchen timer, and the Italian word for tomato is Pomodoro. Hence the name Pomodoro Technique.

As is, the Pomodoro Technique can be a powerful tool for getting work done, but if you're neurodivergent or chronically ill, it can be unattainable.

And that's okay. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.

Instead, it's an opportunity to modify and accommodate yourself.

And modifying the Pomodoro Technique to work with your brain and body all starts with something I like to call a Safe Expectation.

In The Action Navigator, I teach about what I call Muse Muscles, aka six muscles that you can strategically strengthen in order to grow into spending your precious time and energy the way you want to. And the first most important muscle, the Safe Expectations muscle.

I spend a lot of time teaching about this Muse Muscle in my program, but the TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) is: It's the strength to set compassionate and doable expectations for yourself.

We often expect too much of ourselves in general, even if we think we've set reasonable expectations, we often subconsciously expect even more of ourselves. You can check out this video of mind to learn even more about that.

When setting a safe expectation, the goal is to choose an amount of time to spend instead of choosing what you hope to accomplish. Focusing on time and effort input as your goal instead of accomplishment output is one of the most powerful things you can shift to to start overcoming procrastination and resistance.

It's so important. I taught a whole Masterclass on it called Butt In Chair Time, which you can still sign up for by going to my website here.

Now that we understand that safe expectations are first and foremost about time and effort input, we can move on to the second criteria for a safe expectation: compassionate and doable.

When deciding how much time you expect yourself to spend on a task or activity, it is crucial that the amount of time is small enough that it feels 100% doable. Compassionate and doable takes into account your three gas tanks, which if you wanna learn more about, you can do so by watching this video next.

What time expectation feels compassionate and doable for your physical gas tank?

What time expectation feels compassionate and doable for your cognitive gas tank?

What time expectation feels compassionate and doable for your emotional gas tank?

Safe expectations consider not only your capacity, but also your level of resistance. The more resistance, the shorter your safe time expectation needs to be.

100% doable expectations often feel like they're not enough. That feeling is a lie.

If your safe expectation needs to be five minutes, four minutes, three minutes, two minutes, or even one minute for it to feel truly safe, that's okay. You are doing it right. That's why it's called the safe expectations muscle.

Think of something you've been procrastinating on. What would be a safe expectation for you to start tackling it? Let me know in the comments.

So you have a safe expectation for your Pomodoro. Now, what?

Let's check out the modified Pomodoro formula.

As you can see, the modified Pomodoro technique is: safe expectation plus reevaluate, plus adequate recovery, and all of that together equals one Pomodoro.

So, let's talk about phase two Reevaluating in the original Pomodoro method.

After finishing your burst of focused work, you take either a five minute break or a longer break if you've already completed four Pomodoros. This way assumes that you have more capacity for doing the thing, which if you're neurodivergent or a spoonie, is not necessarily true.

Instead, we reevaluate.

Here's how to do it. After you've finished your safe expectation, ask yourself how you're feeling.

Good, bad, somewhere in between?

Are you now in the zone?

How are your gas tanks doing?

And most Importantly, do you want to do another Pomodoro?

Essentially, the reevaluation stage is checking back in with your capacity and determining if it's safe to set another safe expectation, or if it's time for you to stop.

If you're not up for another Pomodoro for whatever reason, that's okay. You get to stop and focus on the final stage, adequate rest, without moving on to another Pomodoro afterward.

If you are up for another Pomodoro, you decide two things at this point.

One, how much of a break you need.

And two, what your safe expectation will be for your next Pomodoro (which may be different from your previous safe expectation).

The Modified Pomodoro Technique is not only a powerful way of overcoming procrastination and resistance, but it's also a tool for practicing genuine self-care, because it combines awareness and mindfulness with decision-making and action-taking.

With this modified technique, you are continuously checking in with yourself and proactively deciding to care for yourself. When practiced again and again, over time you will discover your relationship to yourself deepening, and it's a profound experience.

Now, for the last stage of the modified technique, adequate recovery. In the original Pomodoro method, you are given either five minutes or 30 minute rest breaks in between Pomodoros. While it is not stated outright, it is implied that these breaks are designed to be a form of rest.

I don't use the word rest in the Modified Pomodoro Technique, however, because that word has a very specific connotation, which excludes more active forms of recovery, that can be really important for those who are neurodivergent and/or chronically ill.

Can recovery include things like stretching, taking a nap, scrolling social media, watching a favorite show, or reading a book? Of course, rest is most certainly included. I use the word recovery because it inherently includes rest. In order to recover from your Pomodoro, you get to choose an activity that will help you, your body, and your brain recover from the work that you just did.

For example, a lot of the work I do is sitting at my computer. Often I don't need a nap, but instead I need to get up and do something. So, often in between computer Pomodoros, I get up and do simple chores for five to 10 minutes because it. one, it gives my brain a needed and deserved break, two, helps prevent the pain and stiffness of sitting at the computer forever, and for me, three, helps reduce stress by allowing me to get other stuff done.

That being said, a recovery period does not have to be productive. I'm gonna repeat that because it's really, really important.

Your recovery time does not have to be productive.

The point is to recover from the work you just did, not do more work.

Sometimes my recovery periods look like doing chores while other times it looks like laying down and closing my eyes. I simply gave the chore example to show how sometimes the best way to recover is in fact to simply do something else.

Don't let your preconceived notions of rest and recovery limit you. For example, an ADHD brain may need to do something really stimulating (aka dopamine-producing) in order to recover.

Now that you've learned all the pieces of the modified Pomodoro Technique, let's review and put it all together.

One, set a safe expectation.

Two, once you meet your safe expectation, reevaluate how much time do you need to recover and with what activity or inactivity.

If you want to do another Pomodoro, what's your next safe expectation?

And finally, three, engage in your chosen recovery and repeat as needed.

There you have it,

The Modified Pomodoro Technique for neurodivergent brains and chronically ill bodies.

Go forth and conquer your procrastination and resistance.

You've got this!

Earlier I mentioned my signature course, The Action Navigator. It's packed to the brim with tools and techniques for mastering your time, getting organized, and offering yourself radical compassion as a neurospicy spoonie. If that sounds like exactly what you've been looking for, use this link to learn more.

Check out this video next for an even deeper dive on safe expectations.

If you liked this video, hit that like button and subscribe and be sure to share it with your friends. I'll be back in two weeks with another video. See you then. Bye.