Here’s the technique I use to focus in an increasingly noisy world

Judging from the collective worry that our attention spans are shrinking and our newfound appreciation for the importance of Deep Work, it should be obvious that the ability to focus is a skill worth cultivating.

But if you're the kind of person that has trouble focusing (and don't we all?), how do you regain some of that brain power? Is there physical therapy for your focus?

Well, kind of. It's a productivity method developed by Francesco Cirillo and it's called the Pomodoro Technique.

What is the Pomodoro Technique?

The technique is simple: work for 25 minutes, no distractions allowed. Then rest for 5 minutes. After four chunks of work (called "pomodoros"), you get a longer break---anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. Easy, right?

Knock Out Your To-Do List with the Pomodoro Technique

Firs — does the pomodoro technique even work?

Yeah, it does and it's super effective. Indie author Ryan Casey says he uses the Pomodoro Technique to write upwards of 5,000 words a day.

It's also been endorsed by publications like the Muse and the Washington Post, and productivity gurus like Tim Ferriss, author of the classic 4-Hour Work Week and recent Tribe of Mentors, and Chris Winfield, creator of the Deconstructing Success podcast.

The Pomodoro Technique produces such great results that it was voted Lifehacker's favorite productivity method in 2012.

Since it works…

…you can use it to knock out your to-do list by assigning pomodoros to each item.

You can finish your work in 5 hours if you only have 10 items on your to-do list and each of them only takes one pomodoro to complete.

And then you can go home early. :)

But doesn't more time spent working = more productivity?

No. Arianna Huffington explains why.

Cal Newport explains the value of taking breaks.

Brooke Castillo, who runs the Life Coach School, says she works only three days a week.

All this to say: no. The relationship between time spent working and productivity might actually be the inverse.

The Secret to Productivity is Rest

The Pomodoro Technique is so effective because it builds in breaks. Instead of trying to constantly maintain focus over a period of time, the Pomodoro Technique asks you to work in short productive bursts, and then it requires you to rest from your work.

Why does this work? Because it's cyclical.

Brief distractions can dramatically increase your ability to focus. The Pomodoro Technique puts a hard limit on those brief distractions: five minutes. This means you have five minutes to check your cell phone, stretch your legs, or run to the bathroom.

Setting a time limit on your distraction time is valuable because, as I’m sure you know, distraction time can easily expand to an entire hour. It’s unfocused.

What Gets Measured Gets Managed

Breaking your work into distinct pockets allows you to estimate how long tasks will take by using the Pomodoro is a unit of measure. The Write Life, a website for freelance writers, published an entire workday schedule segmented into pomodoros.

Once you adopt this way of thinking it becomes much easier to estimate how long projects will take you. This, in turn, helps you accurately plan out your future schedule and create realistic deadlines.

When I first attempted NaNoWriMo, I had no clue how long it would take me to write 50,000 words. I didn't even know how long it took me to write 1,000 words---how was I going to figure out 50,000?

Then I started using the Pomodoro Technique, and suddenly I had a unit of measurement: words per pomodoro. I quickly learned that I could produce about 500 words per pomodoro. After writing a bit, that number increase to 750 words per pomodoro.

Now, I budget my writing time in a similar fashion. Using this scale, If I want to write a 2,000 word-article for my professional blog, it would take me about three pomodoros, or an hour and a half, to complete a draft.

Can I Modify the Pomodoro Technique?

The short answer is yes. 25 minutes on and 5 minutes off are not magical numbers.

The long answer is yes, you should modify the Pomodoro Technique once you've outgrown it. Many of the criticisms of the Pomodoro Technique revolve around how 25 minutes is too short for people to achieve Flow.

However, I believe that the value of the Pomodoro Technique lies within the cyclical nature of working and then taking a break.

So there’s room to grow. For example, instead of working in 25-minute chunks and taking 5-minute breaks, I now work in 50-minute chunks and take 10-minute breaks.

What about you?

I’d love to hear from you. What’s your experience with the Pomodoro technique? Does it help you focus? Have you heard about it before?

Let me know by leaving a comment.