The Best Hack I’ve Ever Found for Writing Faster and Resisting Distraction
Do you have any idea how hard it is to write about subway turnstiles?
Pretty hard. I mean, unless turnstiles are your thing.
They aren’t my thing, but I once found myself writing website copy for a company that sells and installs them. Once I’d finished the research, I should have plowed through a first draft in an hour or so.
But first I needed to check my kid’s math average. Find that recipe for pastitsio. Check if the latest season of The Last Kingdom had dropped on Netflix. (Damn you, Uhtred, son of Uhtred! Some of us are trying to get work done around here.)
Do you see my problem? Maybe goldfish really do have longer attention spans than humans — this human, anyway.
In the end, I pulled it off and finished slightly ahead of deadline. The client was happy. But I wasn’t happy with how much time I’d wasted.
Since then I’ve discovered a simple productivity timer called The Pomodoro Technique. I just wish I’d stumbled on it years ago.
Why? It’s cut my writing time by 30–40%, on average.
How? By slapping on the blinders and keeping me focused on ONE task until the thing is done. And if you write for a living, like I do, that’s a mighty big deal.
Even if you aren’t a writer, you could use Pomodoro to rip through just about anything you’ve been finding a hundred excuses not to start (or finish).
Like filling out expense reports for your employer. Don’t tell anyone, but my husband puts them off until HR is calling for his head on a charger.
What’s a Pomodoro?
Back in the late eighties, Italian student Francesco Cirillo developed a simple time-tracking system, named after his trusty, tomato-shaped kitchen timer. (Pomodoro is tomato in Italian.) He even wrote a book about it, which I really should read one of these days.
Here’s how it works: Each 25-minute chunk of time is a pomodoro. Set the timer and complete one pomodoro. Then take a five-minute break.
And when I say break, I mean disengage. Get up and take a quick walk outside. Or at least go into another room and do something unrelated to the task. This is crucial. But only for five minutes.
After four pomodoros, you earn a 15-minute break. With the original analog method, you make a checkmark on paper for each pomodoro you complete.
I don’t check things off, because the free app I use (Flat Tomato on my iPhone) does it for me. I’m sure there are lots of others out there you could try, but I find Flat Tomato so easy to use that I’ve never felt the need to stray.
What makes Pomodoro so effective?
1.Single-tasking banishes distractions: During each pomodoro, you ONLY work on one task at a time. No checking email or Twitter, no getting up for a snack. Close your other browser tabs, put your phone away and work uninterrupted until the timer goes off.
2. Breaks help you refocus: It’s so easy to get sidetracked when you’re writing. A 5-minute break is just long enough to get a bit of distance from the work. When I return for the next pomodoro, it’s easy to see with fresh eyes where I’ve wandered off into the weeds.
3. External control removes the need for willpower: Should a grownup like me be capable of resisting distraction on my own, manage my time better? Probably. But you know what? I’m happy to relinquish control to the almighty tomato if it works — and it does.
So grazie molto, Francesco Cirillo! My attentionally-challenged frontal lobe thanks you for your gift to the world.
And now, my fellow writers, I’m curious. Just for kicks, what’s the hardest (or most boring) topic you’ve ever written about? And what’s your favorite hack for powering through distraction?
