Pomodoro; Say No to Distractions at work

In 2015, I did a certification from University of California, San Diego, and the instructor Ms. Barbara Oakley excellently demonstrated the maps of the learning process and later connected the ideas with the effectiveness of Pomodoro technique.
She explained that Pomodoro was invented by Francesco Cirillo, in early 1980’s. Pomodoro is an Italian word that means “Tomato. The timer often used is shape of a tomato and it helps you cut off the distractions and focus on the task. To me, doing Pomodoro sessions is like doing an intense mental workout in a gym, followed by some mental relaxation.
It involves the following steps.
1. Set the timer (25 minutes)
2. Cut off distraction (Phone, social media, chit chat)
3. Focus
4. Reward (A 5 minutes break after every Pomodoro session)

I have been using this technique since then to:
1. Reduce my ADD (attention deficit disorder)
2. Improve focus
3. Increase productivity
4. Produce quality work
5. Manage time effectively
To me, this technique is easy and a handy mental tool. It helps me organize my day-to-day task list and to produce quality work in managed chunks of time. I’ve been using it for 2 years now and it has really improved my focus. Most of the times, it helps me achieve the same task as assigned and sometimes even more than that.

There are a lot of Pomodoro apps and timers available online and in Apps stores that could help you manage your schedule.

Although, I haven’t downloaded any of them, I work my default stop watch by setting it to 25 minutes, and I like working with it.
As I stated earlier, relating the Pomodoro with a mental workout is quite plausible. Our body has similar physical and mental patterns. If you do physical workout, you must be well aware of the fact that your instructor or coach strongly recommends doing it on alternate days. The reason behind that is; your body, specifically your muscles need rest to grow and develop in size (the ultimate goal of your workout) and daily workout will do no good because you’re not giving your muscles enough time to relax. The same analogy can be used for our brain. Spaced focus helps in better retention and increased productivity, and Pomodoro helps this phenomena by having intermittent reward breaks (to get away from the task, talk to friends, eat something or stretch etc.).
I use this technique almost every day to cope with the workload and decrease the stress of multitasking. Today, I achieved the following:
My checklist:
1. Write a customized cover letter
2. Finish section 1 of the course
3. Finish writing the blog about Pomodoro technique
Time management:
1. 25 minutes to complete each task
2. 5 minutes breaks in between each task

And by the time I am writing these sentences, I am done with all 3 tasks in the given time, with a 5 minutes break between each task. Pomodoro has always been helpful, especially on the days when I feel uninspired or less motivated, or struggle with stress management.
