Do your workdays feel like a nebulous bucket of chunky stew? No clear beginning or end, just a mess of ingredients amalgamously slopping into each other? You’ve come to the right place! Let’s talk about how the Pomodoro technique can bring some structure to your workflow.
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management principle birthed from the loins of one Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. With this technique, users employ a timer to break their work into intervals, classically 25 minutes long, separated by 2-to-5-minute breaks. Francesco named his method “Pomodoro” because it is the Italian word for “tomato,” and he originally used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer for this strategy. How whimsical.
Francesco experimented with different intervals of time to see what would work best for him, and the 25 minutes on, 2-5 minutes off strategy produced the best results. Many professionals and creatives still apply this rule to their work days, so I think he was onto something.
How to use the Pomodoro Technique
Let’s break down each step of the Pomodoro technique so you can determine if it makes sense for your work style.
1. Choose your task
Obviously, you need something to work on. Decide exactly what that thing will be. You might choose one project for the entire day, or you might have a list of things that you will spend each Pomodoro session focusing on.
My personal favorite is to have two similar tasks that I swap back and forth between. For example, writing blog posts, but I am working on two simultaneously.
If your tasks are too different from each other (yard work and designing a presentation) the cost of task switching will be far too large for the Pomodoro method to be effective.
2. Choose your break activity
Not all breaks have the same quality of breakocity. If you’re pausing from your computer tasks to scroll on Instagram, you’re not resting your eyes, your neck, your brain, or your thumb. Those are important things to rest!
Having a rest activity in mind will prevent doom scrolling. Here are some examples of quick breaks you can consider:
- A micro-meditation
- Stretching or yoga
- Walking outside to stand in the sun
- Setting up a forage puzzle for your pet rats
- Kissing your girlfriend
- Lying on the floor (quite healing)
Here’s a quick 5-minute full body stretch you can try:
3. Eliminate distractions
The purpose of the Pomodoro method is to lock in. If you can’t focus during your work sprint, they’re worthless. Take a minute to clear your workspace, let your family/coworkers know you’re doing deep work today, and eliminate any obvious distractions.
4. Set a Pomodoro timer
Traditionally, you will work for 25 minutes. But you may find that a shorter or longer sprint works better for you. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
I find my most efficient work schedule is one hour of focused work, then half an hour off. I use the half hour to take care of my pets and plants, do household chores, read, get a snack, or take a nap.
Some people forego the actual timer and just keep an eye on the clock. I recommend not doing that! Checking the clock will break your focus and lower the quality of your output. So set an actual timer.
5. Take your break
Take your no-screens short breaks for 2-5 minutes (again, experiment and see what timeframe works best for you). Set another timer, because it’s easy to get distracted and stretch that break out far too long for the method to be effective.
6. Repeat for the Pomodoro sprint 4 times
Now do that four times! If you need a visual:
- 25 minutes of work
- short breaks
- 25 minutes of work
- short breaks
- 25 minutes of work
- short breaks
- 25 minutes of work
- long breaks
7. Take a longer break
After your four rounds, it’s time for a more significant break. Traditionally, this break is 15-30 minutes. In this time, you might take a walk, stop for lunch, read a chapter of a book you’re interested in, call a friend, or do some household chores if you’re WFH.
Then you start up again for another four rounds and repeat.
Benefits of the Pomodoro Method
The Pomodoro technique is usually a great method for students, professionals, creatives, freelancers/remote employees, or people with ADHD and other executive function difficulties. Here’s why.
1. Breaks down big tasks
Finishing a huge project for work or studying for the Bar exam can seem like an insurmountable, endless nebula. But working or studying for 25 minutes is easy stuff. The Pomodoro technique lifts the burden of huge tasks by breaking them into smaller sections of focus that you know will reliably end.
2. Improves focus
Knowing that the end is near, it’s usually pretty easy to stay more focused than if you were working casually without any kind of structure.
3. Prevents burnout
Burnout creeps up quicker than we think. An ounce of prevention is worth literal truckloads of care. Regular breaks and less intimidating tasks can help you stay balanced and healthy.
4. Increases awareness
Implementing any task or time management strategy can increase your awareness of your unique productivity patterns and areas of potential improvement.
5. Enhances motivation
Completing a Pomodoro cycle is inevitable–the timer eventually beeps. This can give you a sense of accomplishment on those bigger tasks that can’t just be checked off of a to-do list.
There are a lot of benefits from this method, but it’s not for everyone.
Pomodoro Technique App
Here are a few tool suggestions for tracking your Pomodoro sprints.
1. Pomofocus
Pomofocus is a browser-based Pomodoro time, and it’s free to use.
2. Forest
Forest is an iOS and Android app that rewards users for productivity by growing virtual trees in your own forest. It’s very cute and many users find it motivating. While this isn’t exclusively a Pomodoro timer (since you can set your focus sessions to any time), it does default to Pomodoro sessions.
Forest is free on Android with ads and $3.99 on iOS.
3. Timer
Any timer app on your phone or computer is really all you need. Apps like Forest are cute, but there’s no reason to spend money if you’re just looking to time your work sessions. At this very moment, my laptop is timing this work hour for me. For free, yay!
Problems with the Pomodoro Technique
Here are some weaknesses to consider before using the Pomodoro technique.
1. Interruptions
I regret to inform you that other people exist, constantly. Interruptions are to be expected, especially if you work with a team or if you live with someone else, and they can throw off your work flow quite easily. You could try setting boundaries with people and inform them when you’re working, but that won’t fix the problem for everyone. If you know you will probably be interrupted regularly, the Pomodoro method is not for you.
2. Rigidity
The timed work and timed breaks leave little wiggle room. This might not suit your work rhythm. You can try customizing the work and break intervals to something that fits you better, or you can scrap it and try something else (examples below).
3. Transition costs
Swapping tasks so often might make you less productive. If you know that you’re someone who takes a little while to settle into a task, Pomodoro might not fit your work style. Stopping mid-task can disrupt a good flow that might be hard to get back on demand.
4. Overemphasis on time rather than completion
If you simply plan to “work” during your Pomodoro, you might lose productivity. Without prioritizing and intentionally choosing your tasks ahead of time, settling into the time-based routine might make you waste that time, filling it with easy, accessible, less useful tasks while avoiding the difficult and important ones.
5. Potentially stressful
A ticking clock can turn into a ticking bomb for an anxious person. If your personality and work style are more laidback, a rigid time structure might just make you nervous instead of productive. Pomodoro is more suited for competitive people who would not scream if a ball was thrown in their direction.
6. Doesn’t work for teams
The Pomodoro technique doesn’t translate well to collaborative tasks. It’s hard to synchronize work intervals with multiple people, so this technique is just for you.
If the problems listed above have turned you off to trying Pomodoro, that’s okay! Keep reading.
Alternatives to the Pomodoro time management method
We have some similar time management strategies for you.
1. Time blocking
Time blocking is allocating specific blocks of time for different tasks. Schedule your day in chunks for a bit of structure and intention.
You can also use block scheduling in a bigger sense, if applicable to you. Dedicate all day (or week, or month) to one specific task. For me, that might look like two weeks focusing on one pen name. Staying in the same mode can make you much more productive as you settle into that project, and knowing you only have a limited time to do it helps keep you focused and motivated.
2. Flowtime technique
If you like the Pomodoro method conceptually, but the switching costs, interruptions, or rigidity are too much for you, you might try the flowtime technique.
With this work method, you work in focused intervals, but you allow the interval to vary. If you’re in a good work flow and it’s coming easy, ride that wave until it ends, then take your break. You can change the length of your break based on how long you were in the flow, or you can set a standard length.
3. Task cycling
Task cycling (a term I just invented) is when you turn the time aspect of Pomodoro into a task-based method. This means writing a list of tasks you’d like to accomplish in that work session, and taking your breaks upon finishing a task.
This can get complicated to manage, if you have many types of tasks that take vastly different amounts of time. To compensate, if you finish a task far quicker than you expected, you can always add another before taking your break.
Key Takeaways
The Pomodoro method is 25 minutes of work separated by 2-3 minutes of rest, with a longer break every four Pomodoros.
It can help users stay on task, feel motivated, and get things done quicker without burnout.
Pomodoro isn’t for everyone! There are transition costs, it can’t really be applied to teams of people, and a lot of jobs require more flexibility.
You can consider an alternative time management method, like the flowtime technique, task cycling, or time blocking.
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