The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo. Cirillo was struggling to focus on his university studies, and complete assignments, and feeling overwhelmed, he asked himself to commit to just 10 minutes of focused study time. Encouraged by the challenge, he found a tomato (Pomodoro in Italian) shaped kitchen timer, and the Pomodoro Technique was born.
For anyone who has struggled with implementing – and committing to – time management systems, this is one to try because it’s simple to set up and use.
Here’s how to do it:
- Get a to-do list and a timer. (We have one here in the store)
- Set your timer for 25 minutes and focus on a single task until the timer rings.
- When the timer goes off, take a five-minute break.
- Congratulations, you’ve just completed one Pomodoro!
That’s it. Simple, right?
Tips for Success
- If you struggle with distractions, increase your chances of successful Pomodoro-ing by silencing your phone, closing your office door, putting on headphones, closing down your email, etc. so you aren’t tempted to respond to the notifications or chatty co-workers.
- If you don’t complete the task in the allotted time, set the timer for another session and continue the work.
- Keep a notepad and pen handy. Once the time has started, you might get a brilliant idea or remember something you need to do. DON’T STOP TO DO THIS THING! Jot yourself a quick note and add it to your to-do list after the Pomodoro time is up.
- Can you use your phone as the timer? Yes, as long as you have the discipline to keep from checking it to see how much time is left and can ignore any notifications.
- If you finish the planned task before the timer goes off, find a short task from your to-do list and work on it until it rings.
Level Up
If all you do with this process is take these focused 25-minute sessions to complete tasks, your productivity will dramatically increase and you’ll see progress on your tasks. However, if you want to ninja this process, here’s how to take it to the next level:
- Take a Big Break: After four Pomodoro sessions, take a more extended 15-30 minute break. Get up, stretch, drink some water, take a walk. Set a timer, so you get back to work after this break.
- Break down complex projects. If a task requires more than four pomodoros, it needs to be divided into smaller, actionable steps. Sticking to this rule will help you make clear progress on your projects.
- Group short tasks go together. Tasks taking less than one Pomodoro should be combined with other simple tasks. For example, “write rent check,” “make doctor appointment,” and “read Entrepreneur article” could go together in one session.
- When You Get Interrupted: You can only control so much of your time and space, so in the event of an unavoidable disruption – and I mean, really unavoidable, like a toddler being quiet – take your five-minute break and start again. Cirillo recommends that you track interruptions (internal or external) as they occur and reflect on how to avoid them in your next session.
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