Learn the Pomodoro Technique: Time Management Made Easy

This post contains excerpts from our e-book “The Concentration Compass,” which you receive free of charge with the purchase of a 6-Minute-Success Journal.

Be completely honest with yourself for once: Can you really concentrate on just one thing at a time for ten minutes straight? This is the question Italian student Francesco Cirillo asked himself in the 1980s, deeply worried about his future when he noticed that he had barely made any progress with his studies for weeks. To avoid lying to himself, he sought out an objective judge: a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. The harsh reality: No, his concentration didn’t even last ten minutes straight. He had no idea that the tomato-shaped timer would forever be associated with his name ...

What exactly is the Pomodoro Technique?

To improve his concentration, he used the kitchen timer for a mental training programme: five minutes of focused work, followed by a short break. Once he could do this without difficulty, he increased the time interval. After several attempts, he found that 25 minutes of focused work was his ideal concentration span. This was followed by a five-minute break. He marked each completed session with a cross on a piece of paper.  

During his countless self-experiments, Cirillo noticed that breaks are essential for maintaining concentration over the long term during individual “Pomodoro sessions” (Pomodoro, Italian for tomato).

Cirillo not only regained his ability to concentrate, but also turned the tomato into his job: He founded a consulting firm and brought his time management method into the business world. Today, millions of people worldwide use his Pomodoro Technique to work more focused. 

5 Benefits of the Pomodoro Method

The special advantage of this method is that it makes you happy five times over:

1. Continuous training: The Pomodoro Technique works like a training programme for your ability to concentrate. Just as you can eventually lift much more weight than you could at the beginning through continuous training, your Pomodoro sessions will soon feel like child’s play.

2. Extra motivation: Whether you make a colourful checkmark in your 6-Minute-Success Journal or a line in your notebook – every checked-off Pomodoro is a quiet triumph. It can be incredibly motivating to see the checkmarks pile up and realise how much you are accomplishing!

3. More composure: If you are working and the anxiety of not doing enough is gnawing at you, you are feeling exactly the same way the inventor Cirillo did. With the Pomodoro Technique the Italian turned time “from a source of anxiety into an ally” [1] [1] From a source of anxiety to an ally: Cirillo, Francesco (2015): Alessio Jacona intervista Francesco Cirillo ideatore di „The Pomodoro Technique” , because he transformed it from a voracious monster into manageable units. He no longer fought against time, but became its master. Through this regained control and the scheduled breaks, he broke the vicious cycle of procrastination, stress, and deadline pressure.

4. More flow: By concentrating on one task after another, you increase the likelihood of getting into flow. This complete immersion in an activity not only boosts your productivity, but also makes you more satisfied (find out more on page 39 of the 6-Minute-Success Journal).

5. Less working time: The less you let yourself be distracted, the more you accomplish in less time. This automatically gives you more time for relaxation, relationships, and fun.  

Having free time is one of the most important effects of the Pomodoro Technique. – Francesco Cirillo

The Pomodoro Technique in Practice 

A phone rings on your right, someone asks you from the left if you would like a coffee, and an email pops up on the screen in front of you. And when things are finally quiet in the office, it suddenly gets loud in your head and thoughts start flooding in. Is it even realistic to work fully focused for 25 minutes straight? Here are a few tips on how you can apply the Pomodoro method in your daily work routine:

At the 6-Minuten-Verlag , Focus is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. No one speaks unless it is absolutely unavoidable. If scheduled focus sessions are not possible for you, you could perhaps use a symbol: When you have the concentration hat on your head, no one may speak to you unless it is something really, really important, such as Bill Gates wanting to offer you your dream job or the Spice Girls reuniting.

Ringing phones and chatting colleagues are the biggest sources of distraction in the office. [2] [2] Sources of distraction in the office: Banbury & Berry (2005): Office noise and employee concentration: Identifying causes of disruption and potential improvements   Invest in noise-cancelling headphones so that you are not distracted by the background noise.

Music not only drowns out distracting noises, but can also directly improve your concentration. However, it should be purely instrumental music, because words are more likely to distract you from work. So Bach instead of Bushido! Slow music is also better than fast music. [3] [3] Concentration music for more focus: Dr. Martin Krengel: Concentration music ♫ think, work, plan, and unwind better 

Do you sometimes open Facebook or Instagram as if you were remote-controlled, and before you know it, you have disappeared into the newsfeed? Then find here the ideal app blocker for you, which not only blocks tempting websites but also shows you a timer for your work intervals. Only when the stopwatch has run out are you allowed to surf freely again. 

Don’t be afraid to start with short concentration intervals, just like Cirillo did. Set a timer for five or ten minutes and only increase the time when it becomes easy for you to concentrate. Take it slowly and don’t put yourself under pressure – everyone has their own pace!

There is no such thing as too small: Read here why we focus on mini-habits!

If your daily work consists of many small tasks, you can group them together and complete them all at once. For example, set two times each workday to answer emails so that you are not distracted by the constant ping in your inbox.

As with any training, it is good to always push yourself a little beyond your limits. So if you notice after 20 minutes that your concentration is waning, try to hold out for the last five minutes. But be sure to take a break afterwards. If you keep pushing yourself endlessly, you will exhaust yourself before the workday is even close to over.

When I am tired, I rest. I tell myself, ‘Today I can’t be Superwoman.’ – Jada Pinkett Smith

One Tomato at a Time

Finally, one more request: Don’t be too hard on yourself if you get distracted during a focus session. The Pomodoro Technique is a tool to help you stay more focused, but there is no quota you have to meet. As highlighted in the 6-Minute-Success Journal, it is in our nature to be distracted by a rumbling stomach, colleagues gossiping, or our phones. However, with the Pomodoro Technique, you train your concentration muscle, and it becomes increasingly easier to tune out these distractions. 

Just like Cirillo, I have found that I accomplish so much more in my studies and also in my job as a writer when I work in focus intervals. However, the combination of the Pomodoro Technique and app blockers is what works best for me. This is because it prevents me from going on Facebook “just for a second.” This happens to me especially when I am working on a rather boring task – which then takes even longer because I am constantly distracted. It is so frustrating! I am now practically addicted to the concentration flow that usually sets in for me in the first hour of the morning. The best thing about the Pomodoro Technique, however, is that you can start using it today and feel its effects!

Change your life today. Don’t wait for the future; act now, without delay. – Simone de Beauvoir

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This post was written by Amelie Haupt. Thanks to her studies in business psychology, she is the “Psycho-Aunt” of the 6-Minuten-Verlag. Like her texts, her life is structured. She needs that too when she is out and about as a digital nomad.

Sources:

[1] From a source of anxiety to an ally: Cirillo, Francesco (2015): Alessio Jacona intervista Francesco Cirillo ideatore di „The Pomodoro Technique”

[2] Sources of distraction in the office: Banbury & Berry (2005): Office noise and employee concentration: Identifying causes of disruption and potential improvements

[3] Concentration music for more focus: Dr. Martin Krengel: Concentration music ♫ think, work, plan, and unwind better