What does a tomato timer have to do with making your day easier?
Well, have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique?
The Pomodoro technique was invented by Francesco Cirillo in 1992. He was a university student in Rome & couldn’t get focused on any of his tasks at hand – so he started using a kitchen timer shaped like a tomato (pomodoro is Italian for tomato) and found the results remarkable.
The process is simple:
- Set a timer for 25 minutes.
- Work for those 25 minutes.
- Set a timer for 5 minutes.
- Take a break for that 5 minutes.
- Now you’ve completed one pomodoro!
- Every 4 pomodoros, take a 30 minute break.
Now, I don’t use the Pomodoro technique every minute of my working day. I think I’d find it intensely irritating while I was trying to edit, for example, or read. But it is freakin’ fabulous for getting over analysis paralysis and first draft anxiety – all you have to do is set the timer and write. (Or work on whatever task!)
The five minute breaks keep you energized. I like to hula hoop during them – gets the blood flowing! Other options include taking a walk, going to the bathroom, stretching, getting a quick snack, and so forth. Part of the reason that people tend to put off starting on a project is the fear that you’ll be sitting for hours at a time with no breaks; with the Pomodoro technique, that’s not a possibility, so that anxiety is removed.
The ticking timer (purists insist that the ticking is vital) provides a sense of urgency, and constantly reminds you that you’re supposed to be working. The fact that you’re working in 25 minute increments mean you can take note of how many pomodoros you’ve done on a given task and automatically know how long you’ve spent working on it.
I’d heard about it several times before I finally gave it a try. To be honest, at first, I found the ticking annoying. I had to turn my computer volume down to 50% or otherwise I couldn’t focus at all. However, I found the results well worth getting used to the ticking – I get a lot more down now. Before I would tend to work hard for 60-90 minutes at a time, then decide I needed a break and…spend the rest of the day surfing the internet or puttering around the house. Not any more! I easily get two or three times as much done in a day now, and that’s without pushing myself uncomfortably hard or stressing out about it.
The best thing of all? You can get started for totally free! I use the focusbooster app, which can be used online or can be downloaded onto your computer. The Pomodoro technique website has all of the information you could possibly want (including a free ebook about it).
Seriously, give it a try. And then tell me what your results are – I’m sure not everyone will have results as good as I did, but it can’t hurt to try, right?
