Yes, the Pomodoro Technique Works, and Yes, It’s Healthy. Here’s the Squeeze–
There aren’t many worse feelings in one’s day-to-day than acknowledging the reality that much of it gets spent scrolling reddit or loading reel after reel on youtube, and subsequently realizing that very little of your time and energy is put toward productivity. We’ve all been there, in the pits of a rut, struggling to find the motivation to do what needs to be done, and instead doing whatever it is that brings us those little hits of dopamine that keep our brains focused on nonsense while leaving important tasks to rot.
Francesco Cirillo felt the same way in the late 1980s when he developed a time-management technique to help maintain focus and increase productivity and efficiency on a regular basis, The Pomodoro Technique.
The Pomodoro Technique involves:
- setting a timer, typically to 25 minutes
- choosing one task to work on for the duration of that time, called a ‘pomodoro’, (from the Italian word for tomato, named after Cirillo’s tomato kitchen timer which was used in developing the technique.)
- After the timer expires, take a short break, usually only 5 minutes.
- After the break, you begin another pomodoro, followed by another break.
- Repeat the steps until four pomodoros have been completed, and then take a longer break, maybe 20 to 30 minutes.
That’s the Pomodoro Technique. Sounds useful in theory, but how much actually gets accomplished in just 25 minutes bursts of work? Is it really possible to ever actually finish a project with such short chunks of work time?
Yes, the Pomodoro Technique Works!
According to Bryan Collins of Forbes, “A 25 minute Pomodoro session is long enough to get a little work done but not so long that if feels painful or overwhelming. Unlike trying to work without a break for hours, it’s relatively easy to stack small sessions on top of each other.” Even though the time frame is short, when several Pomodoro sessions add up, a serious amount of work eventually gets accomplished. I’m trying the technique right now, as I write this article. I’ll update in a bit, or after a few more Pomodoro sessions.
But Does it Always Work?
The general technique does come with some caveats. First, not everyone will be as successful with only a 25 minute session. Collins further reports that some may require longer or shorter periods in order to achieve their peak results, so it’s important to adjust accordingly to whatever fits your styles and needs best.
*Update: I can already tell that I’m going to need to work for longer periods as well as break for longer periods; I can sit a bit longer than just 25 minutes to work, and I’d also appreciate a bit of a longer break. I’ll adjust to 30 minutes, 10 minutes for the next cycle.
Cirillo also admits that while one may begin seeing positive results after only a couple of sessions, “true mastery of the technique takes from seven to twenty days of constant use.” So for many of us, we may need to maintain consistent use before we start seeing any real results. Leon Ho of Lifehack.org also writes that the Pomodoro technique may not be suitable for all types of tasks such as anything that requires frequent interruptions or frequent changes and that it has a bit of a disruptive start-stop nature. Ho further states that “according to research, it takes about 23 minutes to get into deep productivity, which also proves that the Pomodoro Technique may be seen as ineffective for some people.” To complicate things even further, other, more formal, research notes that inefficiencies arise when the Pomodoro Technique is adopted among whole teams of people.
No matter what your situation, though, remember that the technique can be adjusted according to your needs and situation. As a test, not only am I currently using the technique to write this blog post, I’ll also be instituting this technique in my own workflow over the coming weeks, so I’ll follow up soon with a review of how it’s going.
What About the Health Benefits?
Apparently, yes, those rumors are also true. The Pomodoro Technique is a healthy practice to get into. Ho, from Lifehack.org, continues writing that working for long periods of time causes the brain to become fatigued, but the Pomodoro Technique “can help you in maintaining a consistent level of focus and productivity throughout the day without becoming overwhelmed or burned out.” He goes on to note how this especially impacts open-ended work such as research and writing which can span several hours or even days. And how do we feel when we accomplish so many tasks rather than procrastinating and cramming into one long work session? Less stressed; you know stress?– the silent killer?
Well, I’m sold. As I said, I’ll be trying it this coming month. I’ll report my findings, but until then, let me know if you’re also giving it a shot and how it’s going in the comments. What adjustments have you made and what kinds of tasks or applications is it best and worst for? Tell us in the comments.
For more information about The Pomodoro Technique and for some apps to help you try it out on your own, check my sources below.
https://francescocirillo.com/about-francesco-cirillo.php
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryancollinseurope/2020/03/03/the-pomodoro-technique/?sh=55c201003985
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/the-pomodoro-technique-is-it-right-for-you.html
https://zapier.com/blog/best-pomodoro-apps/
*Another update: After a full cycle of four pomodoros, I can say I started and finished this article, so that’s something. Hope it’s going well for you all, too.
