Get Shit Done with the Pomodoro Technique

How a kitchen timer can help you tackle any task, large or small.

If you are looking for an organized way to get stuff off your desk without losing your mind, I recommend using the Pomodoro Technique.

Created in the late 1980's, the Pomodoro Technique is a time management solution reminiscent of timeboxing or time grouping. The term “pomodoro” is Italian for tomato, and refers to a tomato-shaped kitchen timer that method inventor Francesco Cirillo apparently had laying around the house.

In a nutshell, the technique requires you to perform work tasks with the help of a kitchen timer set to 25 minutes. Each 25-minute session is called a “Pomodoro.”

Unlike other popular time management techniques, the Pomodoro Technique can be accomplished in five simple steps.

1. Define what needs to get done. Do you need to finish a project proposal you’ve been putting off for weeks? How about that mountain of laundry sitting in the corner? This technique can help.
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes, or one Pomodoro, and start working. You don’t have to use a kitchen timer, either. Use the stopwatch on your iPhone. Or just use a stopwatch. You know, the thing on your wrist.
3. When the timer goes off, put a check mark by each completed task. You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in 25 minutes of uninterrupted work. Seriously.
4. Take a five minute break. Do whatever you want during this time. Drink a soda. Use the bathroom. Smoke a cigarette. Whatever.
5. Repeat. Set the timer for another 25 minutes and get crackin’, yo. Assuming you have more stuff to complete, of course.

Once you hit four consecutive Pomodoro cycles — or about 2 hours — start taking longer breaks. Your mind can only focus for so long. Be nice to yourself.

When you get really fancy with this technique, you will be able to estimate how many Pomodoros a specific task will take to complete. You’ll also creep the hell out of your friends. “Oh, that’ll take three Pomodoros!”

I’ve used this technique for everything from clearing off my work desk to writing a blog post to planning a meal. The problem, I learned, is not the task itself; instead, it’s all the extra shit that takes up our time during the day that prevents us from focusing.

We live in a society bred on “just-in-time” planning and multitasking. Taking on too many responsibilities at work or at home have a way of piling up over time. Dedicating blocks of focused work time throughout your day will not only help you get more things done faster, but it could also make you much happier in the long run.