In this article, we assess the advantages and disadvantages of the Pomodoro technique, which is a time management approach that has recently gained popularity, along with the Pomodoro timer. This evaluation aims to determine the effectiveness of the technique in improving time management skills.
Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro technique is a method that enables you to efficiently arrange your work schedule in order to meet deadlines and prevent experiencing exhaustion.
Francesco Cirillo, an Italian who explored time management solutions, invented it with the concept of using a basic tomato-shaped kitchen timer to structure his daily schedule.
At this moment, you may be wondering how kitchen utensils can assist in handling serious projects. This approach is not limited to home use alone, as it is also utilized in large corporations.
The Pomodoro technique can be highly effective and satisfying for making quick progress on a project or task if you prefer a quiet work environment and value discipline and structure. This technique is particularly useful when you have all the necessary resources to complete your work and simply need to dedicate focused time to it.
Who is the Pomodoro Technique for
Pomodoro is widely utilized by contractors and freelancers, including content creators and self-employed individuals, encompassing all professions that rely on self-organization to accomplish their tasks.
When working from home, it is not just about enjoying a nice cup of coffee in the morning and avoiding the need to commute to the office in any weather conditions. There are numerous tempting distractions lurking around every corner, such as binge-watching the latest season of your favorite show, spending time on social media, and having easy access to a fully stocked refrigerator. If you succumb to the mentality of “just another 5 minutes,” the day can quickly slip away without your realization.
The Pomodoro technique is an excellent way for those who are new to working from home to effectively transition from leisure time to productive work by helping with time management.
Why use Pomodoro at work
In the office setting, employees encounter various challenges that can impact their productivity, possibly to a greater extent than when they are at home.
- Open space office environment is great for inter-team communication and a love of tech companies worldwide. But when people can’t get away from friendly co-workers or any background noise which might catch their attention, they can lose their focus pretty fast.
- Multitasking approach. Need to complete a number of tasks within one day? Switching constantly between them wastes time and is not as effective as simple prioritizing.
- Unplanned or lengthy meetings. In the lead-up to a meeting or in the post-meeting comedown, employees can find themselves distracted and unable to concentrate, meaning their current tasks don’t get the attention they deserve.
How to use Pomodoro Technique
- Choose the priority tasks you need to have done today;
- Estimate the overall work volume and then split up your workflow into small chunks called “Pomodoros” that can be completed in 25 mins increments;
- Add these tasks to your plan (a project management tool or just a piece of paper);
- Pick a task, set a pomodoro timer for 25 minutes, and minimize distractions. Switch off your phone, keep focused on the activity here and now;
- Stop when time is up and make a note;
- Take a deserved break. Stretch your back, have a sip of water. After a 5-minute break you should get back to another Pomodoro;
- As soon as you have finished 4 Pomodoro, fully recharge your batteries with a 20-30 minute, so leave your desk;
- Repeat the session again!
By following a pattern of intense concentration and relaxation, you can train your brain to adhere to a specific schedule, thereby enhancing your concentration skills and overcoming seemingly insurmountable procrastination. This approach has a positive effect on the quality of your outcomes, amplifies productivity, and enables you to meet deadlines effectively.
Quick tips for pomodoro-ing
Although the core of the Pomodoro Technique involves 25/5 minute work/break intervals, there are some additional steps you can take to enhance the effectiveness of your Pomodoro.
Plan out your Pomodoro in advance
To effectively plan your Pomodoro, allocate 15 minutes at the start of your workday (or the end, if you prefer to plan for the following day).
First, take your to-do list for the day and determine how many Pomodoro each task will require. If a task requires more than 5 Pomodoro, make sure to divide it into smaller, more manageable tasks. On the other hand, tasks such as responding to emails can be grouped together and completed within a single Pomodoro.
If you have an 8-hour workday, ensure that you do not exceed sixteen Pomodoros for the day. In case you do, reschedule the tasks with the least urgency or importance to a later time during the week.
Build overflow Pomodoro into your day
Although an 8-hour workday allows for sixteen Pomodoro to be completed, it is advisable to allot 2-4 “overflow” Pomodoro as a precautionary measure. Utilize these extra Pomodoro for tasks that require more time than anticipated or for unforeseen tasks that arise throughout the day.
If you find that you do not need them, utilize the additional Pomodoro for learning or for completing lower-priority tasks that are often neglected until the end of your to-do list. It is more manageable to finish the day with extra Pomodoro than to overbook yourself and fall behind.
As time passes, you will gradually develop an understanding of the number of high-quality Pomodoros you can accomplish in a day. It is acceptable if it is less than sixteen in total.
Most people are not productive for the entire 8 hours of a workday, and those who believe they are likely have not been observant enough. When using Pomodoro, push yourself, but prioritize the quality of work rather than the quantity.
Get away from screens during breaks
Not all breaks are the same. When your pomodoro work sessions occur on your computer, avoid simply transitioning to Twitter or Instagram once the timer finishes.
Take a break from screens, including your phone, to give your eyes and brain a rest. Engage in activities like standing up, moving around, stretching, going outside, practicing a brief meditation, grabbing a snack, or observing birds from your window. If you work remotely, you can also fold clothes or tidy up the kitchen table.
What makes pomodoro so effective
Making it easy to just get started
Recent studies indicate that procrastination is not primarily caused by laziness or a lack of self-discipline, but rather by the desire to avoid negative emotions. Facing a daunting task or project, especially one with uncertainties or that we are unsure how to approach, makes us uncomfortable. As a result, we opt for temporary mood boosters like Netflix or Twitter.
Thankfully, research has also discovered a successful method to escape from the pattern of avoidance: reducing the task you are procrastinating on to a small and non-intimidating initial step.
If sitting down to write a whole novel feels too challenging, try sitting down to write for only 5 minutes. Alternatively, start by simply sitting down to edit a paragraph. Breaking a big project into smaller tasks that can be done in a short period of time is much more manageable.
The pomodoro technique suggests breaking down your larger tasks, projects, or goals into smaller portions that can be completed within a 25-minute time frame.
Instead of getting overwhelmed by the size of the task, thinking step by step keeps you concentrated on the next action you should take. Instead of worrying about the results, simply focus on completing one pomodoro at a time.
Combating distractions
If you have experienced being interrupted while being in a flow state, you understand the challenge of refocusing. However, the increasing amount of information coming from emails, team chats, and social media notifications requires us to give more and more of our attention.
Recent studies indicate that more than 50% of distractions during the workday are caused by ourselves rather than technology, challenging the notion of blaming technology for all distractions. We often justify these internal diversions by considering them important tasks, such as checking urgent emails or briefly browsing on social media without considering them as actual distractions.
The small interruptions accumulate and have an impact! It takes not only the time lost on distractions but also time and energy to redirect your attention. After changing tasks, our minds can dwell on the previous task for more than 20 minutes before we can fully concentrate again. Giving in to the urge to check Facebook quickly can result in spending 20 minutes trying to refocus on the main task.
By following the Pomodoro Technique, you can resist the urge to interrupt yourself and effectively train your brain to concentrate. Each interval is exclusively devoted to a single task, while every pause provides an opportunity to reset and refocus your attention on the work at hand.
Becoming more aware of where your time goes
When we plan for our future projects, many of us tend to underestimate the time required to complete them, even though we are aware that similar tasks have taken longer in the past. We often assume that our future self will have different circumstances and time limitations.
By utilizing the Pomodoro technique, one can effectively combat the planning fallacy. When you divide your work into short, timed sessions, the notion of time shifts from being abstract to becoming a tangible occurrence. Each session becomes a pomodoro, representing both an allotted time frame and the effort exerted. Unlike the general concept of working for 25 minutes, a pomodoro specifically denotes dedicated focus on a single task or multiple uncomplicated tasks.
The notion of time transforms from something negative, which implies loss, to something positive that symbolizes completed events. Cirillo refers to this as “inverting time” as it shifts the perspective of time from being an abstract cause of anxiety to a precise indicator of productivity. As a result, this approach allows for much more accurate time estimates.
The Challenges of Using Pomodoro Technique
Pomodoro, like any other method, is not perfect. Here are some situations where it may not work as effectively.
- Specific environment. Calm and peace are the best friends of concentration, so to keep it you’ll have to avoid noisy places and people. This is often hard to achieve when you work in a team or your daily routine requires communication with dozens of people. If your whole office is chatting while you work, this technique may not be effective for you.
- Physical needs. Some claim that Pomodoro is a rigid system that doesn’t tolerate any interruptions. So, if you, let’s say want to eat or take a bathroom, you’ll lose precious ‘work time’ instead of concentrating. Although this is a strict interpretation of the rules, many apps have got a pause button. However, when you pause your work too often, the idea of Pomodoro becomes meaningless as you need to regain that concentration level again and again.
- No definite rules. Different people have different ways to rest and work. Some love listening to music while working; others prefer to scroll their newsfeed during rest. The Pomodoro technique has no specific rules on how to behave when working or resting. Indeed, our brains rest better while we sleep, meditate or exercise. Watching films or reading the news is not the best way to relax; meaning that you are constantly focusing and don’t let your mind calm down.
- Planning. Before getting to work, the Pomodoro technique implies that you plan, divide and measure your tasks. This may be quite hard to achieve, as plans can change quickly with unexpected situations occurring throughout the day. Moreover, dividing tasks by exact 25 min units need extra training to complete them correctly.
