5 Essential Productivity Tips to Fighter Pilot Performance!

You've heard of the saying 'If you want something done, give it to a busy person' but often it seemed that the more I did, the less I actually got done. My three year tour as a Senior Executive on, what was arguably at the time, the busiest fast-jet squadron in the RAF, was a brutal and demanding tour with high workload and long days. In effect we were building a brand new squadron with a brand new aircraft. The infrastructure was also new as were the civilian partnerships that we had entered. I pretty much worked myself into the ground but towards the end, ironically after I'd taken my option to leave the Service, I managed to seek out some working practises that helped to lower my stress levels and increase my productivity.So, 5 quick tips for a more productive and less stressed you! 1. Stop procrastinating. As I found out, when you have so much work to do it can be hard to know where to start. Just as you're getting on top of one thing another task comes in! In 'The Pomodoro Technique', author Francesco Cirillo recommends allocating a chunk of dedicated and focused time to concentrate solely on one particular task; he calls these chunks 'Pomodori', the Italian plural for tomato, as it was a kitchen timer, in the shape of a tomato, that he first used to develop the technique. He recommends that you have a timer (kitchen timer or phone) set for between 20 to 40 minutes (he suggests 25) and, for that length of time, you solely concentrate on one task. When you have finished the 'pomodori' you can go and take a 5 minute break, make some tea, check emails etc. But the 'pomodori' must be uninterrupted - he recommends being firm with people that might try to steal your time during this period by telling them that you'll call them back later. He also suggests getting a timer that clicks as it counts down - it'll remind you that you are in the 'focus zone'. A 'TED' talk is 18 minutes long for a reason - it's because that's realistically the longest time that we can concentrate for before getting 'Candy Crush' withdrawal symptoms and ruining our focus..... http://www.fastjetperformance.com/podcasts/5-essential-productivity-tips-to-fighter-pilot-performance Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/fast-jet-performance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.