Do more work in less time with this powerful technique
If you’re anything like me, you have a hard time stepping out of the constant stream of notifications, content and updates that we call life in 2017. How do you ever get work done when there’s so much fun stuff out there to procrastinate on?
After trying tons of different things, eventually I stumbled upon a technique that’s simple enough for anyone to use, but surprisingly powerful at the same time.
The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the 80s by Francesco Cirillo, who named it after his tomato-shaped kitchen timer. It revolves around the concept of breaking up the time you’re working into manageable pieces, combining it with recurring rewards. The only things you need are a timer and your mind.
This is how it works:
- Work for 25 minutes (this is called one ‘pomodoro’). When you get distracted, take a note of it
- Take a five-minute break
- Repeat this process four times
- After four pomodoros, take a 30 minute break
- Start over
That’s it — it’s beautifully simple. After putting it into use, I quickly noticed the effect it had on my productivity. It’s not that hard to focus for 25 minutes, and the short breaks in between offer enough time to catch a breath.
One of the best things about Pomodoro is that you only need a timer to get started. There are, however, some great apps available to make your life easier. They range from the very basic to more elaborate ones, and I’ve selected my favourites:
Forest is particularly beautiful. The moment you start working, the app plants a seed. If you don’t touch your phone or browse to blacklisted websites for 25 minutes, it turns into a cute little tree. The more you focus, the bigger your forest gets. Available for iOS, Android, Chrome and Firefox.
A more basic solution is BeFocused, which adds a simple timer to your Mac menu bar. Press a button for a 25-minute interval and press it again to start your five-minute break. All you need and nothing more. Available for Mac and iOS.
The best pick for Android is ClearFocus, which blends an elegant interface with the basic features you need from a Pomodoro timer — set it and forget it.
Even though this is one of the more popular productivity techniques, there are many more tricks out there. What do you do to keep yourself focused on your work? Let us know in the comments.
