Over the past week, I’ve been trying out the Pomodoro technique. 25 minutes of focus followed by a 5-minute break. Could this simple system enhance my productivity?
What Is The Pomodoro Technique?
Ahh, the renowned Pomodoro technique. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. I’ve been trying it on and off for the past week.
In essence, the Pomodoro technique is a different approach to focus and productivity. You focus without distraction for a period of time, followed by a short break.
Most often, this is 25 minutes of focus followed by a 5-minute break. That’s one Pomodoro, or one cycle. After completing 3 or 4 cycles, you take a longer break – around 15 minutes. Then it’s back to work!
Why Does It Work?
The technique works because it is encouraging. For many of us, the biggest work-related obstacle we face is getting started. Procrastination is a killer. But with the Pomodoro technique, this obstacle often doesn’t exist.
How? What is this magic?! It’s quite simple, actually. As you know there’s a break coming up, it’s easy to begin working. And, 25 minutes doesn’t seem that long, which also helps to get started.
The power comes from having dedicated, frequent breaks. Breaks are useful and promote focus. Without breaks, work seems to go on and on without limits. Work becomes one big, discouraging chunk of time.
What Is The Pomodoro Technique Useful For?
You’ll see the most benefit when using this technique for smaller or low-effort tasks. Things that you don’t really want to do, but need to get done.
Some good examples of where to use the Pomodoro technique include:
- Answering emails
- Management tasks
- Studying and learning
- Chores
During these 25 minutes of work, if you actually focus and complete work, you’ll be more productive. The upcoming break is motivation to keep going and push through resistance and distractions. In this sense, the technique can make you more productive.
Pomodoro and Flow
You may have heard of Flow (a.k.a. Deep Work, being in ‘the zone’). Flow is intense focus on an activity for an extended period of time. It’s where your sense of self dissolves into the work. This is where my reflection comes in.
I found that the Pomodoro technique and Flow don’t work well together.
Many of my work activities are useful for finding Flow. Writing, primarily. When writing blog posts, ebooks, scripts, etc, it’s easy for me to find Flow. Writing provides immediate feedback (one of the requirements to entering Flow) and there are usually no time restrictions. Video editing is another activity where I find Flow.
When using the Pomodoro technique with these activities, Flow can get disrupted. As I begin to reach the 20-minute mark, where Flow usually begins kicking in, a break is approaching. I enter Flow and a timer goes off, telling me to take a break. Great.
For shorter pieces of writing, this isn’t much of a problem. But, I try to make my pieces a little longer and higher-quality. At the very least, it would take two Pomodoro cycles to finish a blog post. I prefer to knock this all out in one go, though, which is why Flow is useful.
When a Pomodoro timer extension tabs you out of WordPress or Google Docs, telling you to take a break, it can be annoying. Particularly if you’re close to finishing a piece of work during Flow. So I devised a different approach!
A Different Approach
Considering its relationship with Flow, I’ve created a variation of the Pomodoro technique that seems to work better.
Focus for longer, break for longer.
And it works. This approach doesn’t disrupt Flow (as much) and still provides breaks for motivation. Being in Flow is more productive than Pomodoro cycles, but each has its place. I prefer to work in Flow, but the Pomodoro focus-break system is useful. So I combined the two.
Doubling the focus and break duration is a good place to start. It’s important to keep the two (roughly) proportionate. Start with 50 minutes of focus and a 10-minute break. If that doesn’t work, increase the time.
An hour seems optimal focus time, for me. Two hours is doable, but a bit much. An hour and a half could be best, but I’m yet to try that out. Couple these with longer breaks and you’ll be making use of both Flow and the Pomodoro technique. Now that’s how to be productive!
Would I Recommend The Pomodoro Technique?
For the most part, yes, try it out. It’s a very useful tool and approach to productivity that can help you to achieve more. If the type of work you do doesn’t provide the opportunity for Flow, this technique is for you.
But, if Flow is a regular part of your work, try the extended approach I mentioned before. This applies if you’re a writer, programmer, creative, athlete, or anything similar. Or, if this is you, don’t use it at all.
If you’re struggling to be productive, or if you struggle to actually begin working, try this technique. By using the 25-minute and 5-minute approach, you’ll have the motivation to get started and keep going. “It’s only 25 minutes of work and then I can have a break.”
Final Thoughts
This is something I want to explore further. I see the benefit of using it, particularly with the extended alternative. Having dedicated breaks is something I hadn’t before considered. That’s where the power of this technique comes in.
The Pomodoro technique can make you more productive. But, instead of having the same Pomodoro times for every task, try having several variations based on the chosen task. This allows you to find Flow while utilising regular breaks.
Thanks for reading.
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