How to use a Pomodoro Timer

The quick start guide to using the Pomodoro technique

Published in

Tool Finder

2 min readNov 16, 2017

So you’ve heard of the Pomodoro Timer, but curious how it can be used in your daily routine. Here’s a useful guide for beginners to the Pomodoro process to get you up and running, without a hitch.

Before we start:

“The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks.”

Definition via Wikipedia.

Step 1: Start a 25-minute timer

It’s really that simple.

Begin by setting up a simple egg timer, or even your smartphone’s native timer to 25-minutes. Start the 25-minutes with a goal of deep work. No distractions, no pressures, no interruptions. Just work.

Use this time to get a task/activity done. Keep it simple. One task or two that fits comfortably into your 25-minute effort.

Step 2: Take a 5-minute break

The 25-minutes is done.

You need to take a healthy break. Go on a walk around your office. A planned break will help you to make the most of your break by taking all the conversations you need to make, relaxing you need to do and zone out time that you might need.

Don’t over use the 5-minute break. Keep it simple and be back at your desk for the next 25-minute cycle to help keep the pattern flowing.

Step 3: Repeat, up to 4 cycles

Pomodoro timers are broken into cycles.

One 25-minute session + one 5-minute break is one cycle.

Make sure that after 4 full cycles you take a longer break of 20–30 minutes to help recover from intense burst sessions. I created a full video here to help you get started with this process, hopefully it adds more detail here.

Tips: Making the Most of Your 25-minutes

Setting a task

Once you get used to things, set yourself some tasks and assign “pomodoros” to them based on the time needed to complete them. Alex Ikonn has some great tips about using this alongside the Productivity Planner.

Short intense 25-minute sessions

The brilliant book by Cal Newport, Deep Work dives into this topic of intensified work sessions where you can really go deep, with no distractions and very focused periods of time.