The One Time Management Technique That Always Works

The Pomodoro method can help increase productivity and focus while making work more fun and less stressful.

Nicole Janeway Bills
ILLUMINATION

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Photo by Dương Nhân on Pexels
Photo by Dương Nhân on Pexels

Pomodoros are an ideal productivity strategy to incorporate into your everyday routine. They help keep work fun and novel.

The Pomodoro technique was created by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. As a student, Cirillo used a timer to divide the duration of his work into intervals of 25 minutes, separated by 5-minute breaks. Cirillo named the technique for the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that he had on hand when inventing the method. The word pomodoro, which is Italian for tomato, has come to refer to a cycle of work and rest.

At first, Maya found it supremely difficult to ignore her usual sources of distraction — her phone, her cats, her refrigerator — and focus on nothing but the work in front of her and the rhythmic ticking of her kitchen timer. But as she got closer to the end of the 25-minute session, Maya felt a sense of ease start to come over her. She knew she could step away from the desk when the timer went off, setting aside the practice problems for a few minutes of sunshine in the garden. At the end of twenty-five minutes, she felt that the work had been manageable. She could do this again.

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Nicole Janeway Bills
ILLUMINATION

Founder of datastrategypros.com where we help busy professionals ace the Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) exam and other data-related exams.