Setting a Professional Development Pace For Success

We frequently look for ways to become better.  One part of that approach is steady (daily) forward progress.  However, this approach can be exhausting and even lead to burnout.  Therefore, we need to be aware of our professional development pace and avoid allowing it to drag us down.

The Pomodoro technique is a well-known approach to setting a pace through our day.  This creates periods of focused work and then rest.  The specifics of the focus and rest periods vary from person to person.  Some people do better with longer periods of focus, while others need more regular breaks.  This timing of focus and rest shows in many educational situations, including conferences.  We typically limit educational presentations (focused learning) to an hour.

The same work-rest scheduling pattern suggested by Pomodoro translates to days on and off as well.  We rarely have a full day of focus.  Nevertheless, we do have days that are filled to the brim.  Many of us call these days a weekday.  However, modern society seems to be spilling over that work to the weekends as well.  We are not built for all work and no play, so the seven-day workweek is not sustainable.  We also have to worry about handling times where we need to "turn it up."  We can not squeeze more out of our days when we are running at 100%.

The old cliche of giving 110% is not possible.  We can only give all we have.  However, we can turn up our effort when we have an aggressive pace that is not maxed out.  We need to pace ourselves as marathon runners do.  We may be able to do more or be more productive for a time, but that should not be the norm.  There has to be a time where our body and mind can recover from being pushed to the limit.  If you want a graphic example, then sprint for one hundred yards and then keep going.  You will run out of energy.  If you instead sprint, then walk for a while, you will recover and get more out of that second sprint.  A professional development pace is no different.  Give yourself some time to recover so you will be more effective in the next sprint.

Taking Advantage of A Rest Period