The Pomodoro Technique
The technique is a bit complicated to use?
Answers
I tried 5 different flavors of this tomato-inspired time management method – but which was the most deliciously effective?
If you’ve been anywhere near an office, a successful person, or Freedom’s twitter feed, chances are you’ve heard of the Pomodoro Technique. For the uninitiated, Pomodoro is a time management method developed 30 years ago by Francesco Cirillo (catchphrase – work smarter, not harder) when he was a university student. Like almost all good ideas, it’s super simple – choose a task you’d like to get done, set a timer for 25 minutes, and dedicate those 25 minutes solely to working on that task only. When the time is up, take a short break of around 5 minutes, and repeat the process until you’ve finished. Every 4 Pomodoro sessions, you should take a longer break of 20–30 minutes. According to the official website, this gives your brain time to assimilate new information and rest before the next round of Pomodoros.
We already know that many of our users swear by the productivity power couple of Freedom sessions combined with the Pomodoro technique, and we happen to think you’re a pretty productive bunch. But for a seemingly simple time-management system, there are an overwhelming number of tomatoey tools and a huge amount of conflicting information on how to Pomo successfully. So, as with pizza and pasta, the only way to find the very best is by sampling many. But app testing is not quite as fun as dining out, so here are 5 different Pomodoro recipes, tried, tested, and ready for your consumption…
Why Pomodoro?
As a creative, I sometimes struggle with prioritization and knowing where to spend my time. I get excited about certain tasks and have to force myself to complete more mundane ones. Until recently, I’d just wait for that hyperfocus to come to me when I was working on the right project – it just seemed like a kind of magic that would arrive out of nowhere. As an art student, I would routinely work on projects all night, barely noticing the hours as they passed. And if the inspiration didn’t hit? Well the waiting was just part of the process, right?
As the years passed I developed a couple of techniques to help me stay organized and get the work done. I’m a big fan of calendar blocking and use it to schedule everything from work to social events, and even household chores. My other fail-safe? Something I developed in childhood called the “Eat Your Vegetables First” Method, which involves getting the most dreaded tasks done first so you can enjoy the delicious enjoyable work later on.
I actually grew up to be vegan, so I no longer need an incentive to eat my greens, but it’s paid dividends in helping me complete unpleasant tasks. I’ll frequently start my runs on the incline, saving the downhill treat until the end. I live in an attic apartment with no elevator. How do I solve that one? Well, I run up the stairs so the pain of climbing them is over sooner. I’ll often block in “boring” work first thing to get it out of the way. Turns out this is actually a common technique also known as reward motivation! But is it the most sophisticated or efficient? In a world where there’s an endless array of science-based hacks to pick and choose from, I thought it was about time to start personalizing my productivity.
I was attracted to the method not only for the many successful Pomodoro proponents (and connotations of delicious Italian cuisine!) but I also liked the idea of using the physical timer as a tangible reminder of the task at hand. For this reason, I decided to start with the OG red tomato kitchen timer.