How to Beat Procrastination and Improve Your Focus one tomato at a time? — The Pomodoro Technique
If you liked this article there are many more in my Productivity Blog:
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The Pomodoro Technique -
Beat procrastination and improve your focus one tomato at a time.
it’s 10 PM — I am sitting in front of a 50 pages layout of a PPT I need to write. I was trying to write it since the morning of the previous day, but I “had” to spend hours in front of Facebook and dumb YouTube videos!
Came home that day and said “no problem I will just put in a couple of hours now” — but again did too many other dumb things until I was way too tired to write something… How surprising the next day I woke up energized and wrote the entire thing in 20 min !!! NOT !!!
That is why I am sitting in front of this “Devil sent” PPT at 10 pm, tired from not sleeping last night, angry from knowing that tomorrow I will be tired again, and obviously furious at myself for spending two days doing nothing!
Procrastination.
Let’s talk about it…
Procrastination is a term that has become popular in recent decades.
Research shows that procrastination is not related to laziness or lack of self-control, It happens because our brain wants to avoid negative feelings of failures due to daunting tasks that are either long and complex and/or trigger our fear of failure, since in our mind failing this task will define us and who we are as a “failure”.
This is an excellent funny video on the subject:
So, how to fight Procrastination ???
The author Francesco Cirillo faced this very problem at university.
His salvation came in the shape of a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. Since then, he’s been using this simple tool to chop every task into smaller, manageable, and motivating units called Pomodori.
The Pomodoro Technique — Efficient Time Management
Studies have shown that we can overcome procrastination habits — all you have to do is divide your work into small, manageable tasks of 20 to 45 minutes per task, and work within those short chunks without any breaks or interruptions. This very concept has been used to create the Pomodoro Technique.
The technique basically means:
Why is the Pomodoro technique effective?
That procrastination-busting strategy is exactly what the Pomodoro technique asks you to do: break down your big tasks, projects, or goals into something you only have to do for the next 25 minutes.
It keeps you hyper-focused on the one next thing you need to do rather than get overwhelmed by the enormity of what you’re taking on.
Don’t worry about the outcome — just take it one Pomodoro at a time.
Area one — Smaller tasks are easier
So — the first area that this method targets, is that when you break a big daunting task into smaller less frightening tasks it’s much easier to get started on this small easy task.
For instance — instead of a 50 pages PPT — I will start with a small task to write the layout, then continue with a small task of writing the first 3 slides of topic 1, and so on…
Area two — reduces ware out
The second area that this method target is that the steady pace of 25-minute intervals keeps you from getting worn out, thus saving you both energy and your sanity.
25 minutes window is easy to focus and concentrate in and keep you distraction-free — and improving your efficiency.
Area three — Motivation
The third area that this method target is that your brain keeps getting success signals, by slowly marking “V”s in the checkboxes of getting Pomodoros done — this keeps you in a feeling of success and a sense of achievability and pushes you further to continue executing more and more Pomodoros — eventually reaching the end goal.
Area four — Hyperfocus
the fourth area that this method target is that slowly it teaches your brain to understand that it needs to focus — or better yet, Hyper Focus — for this window and pushes you to have the ability to harness all of your brainpower to this window and reach your optimal results.
Area Five — The Primacy and Recency Effect
Studies show that the way that our brain works in regards to retaining information is with 2 simple laws: Your brain considers the first information it receives as the most important for decision making. And the last information it received as information to store. The consequence of these laws is, information gathered at the end and at the start of your learning cycles is stored the best. And that is why if you take short Pomodoro Windows — the easier you make it on your brain to store more information.
Making a simple time management method work — Train Your Brain
There are a few rules that you must keep in order to train your brain for optimal results:
- A Pomodoro window is 25-minutes — not less! there are no half Pomadoros, no 80% Pomadoros and no Pomadoros in which the timer is not ringing before you are done. If you have completed your window — continue on that task (do not switch to the next one), keep improving what you have done. If you “finish” early, don’t end the Pomodoro, don’t start your break, and don’t even think about checking your email before the 25 minutes are over! Your brain needs to understand that once you are working on a task — that is what it needs to focus on relentlessly.
- The same thing applies if you have not completed your task on time and still have work left. Do not continue working — take the break and complete it in the next Pomodoro window — your timing estimates will improve the more you are using this method.
- The break is important — don’t waste it on “other work” — if you want to maintain a focused mind, then you need to give it a break. This means that you shouldn’t waste your 5-minute break by checking your email or doing anything strenuous. And keep a long break of at least 15 minutes break to clear your head.
- Everything can be done in Pomodori. Starting from work items to daily life hassle (for instance folding the laundry) — start thinking in Pomodoro Windows.
- Start your day with a Pomodoro of “tasks breaking” and planning — or finish the day with one planning for tomorrow. Select which are the tasks that will make you the most productive, break them down into small Pomodoro slots (for instance: creating a report — 4 Pomadoros, answering emails — 1 Pomodoro …) arrange them in your schedule and stick to it.
- A 9-hour workday has 16 Pomodoro Windows including breaks. When I plan the day ahead I put as many Pomodoro tasks as I can in my schedule (actual planned meetings with myself in the calendar), this obviously depends on the day that you are going to have and how many meetings you are already accepted. I keep one more Pomodoro at the end of the day for planning the next day. And I try to keep at least one as a buffer for interruptions. But I stick to them!
- Keep an “Ideas List” on the side — next section.
3 Side “Lists” to Increase Efficiency
In addition to the Pomodoro timer which I use, I always have 3 lists open. Either Pen and Paper, or if you are like me — some online web tool work better.
The 3 lists are:
- The TODO list (more like my TODO calendar) — This is a list of the actual Pomodoro tasks I need to do. I keep these in my Calendar as 30-minute blocks of time (25 m work, 5 m break).
- The Priority list — Which is a list that contains my priorities to which I want to allocate the time of the Pomodoro tasks which I split. (this is actually a mind map — but that is a topic for a different blog).
- The “Ideas List” — While you are working on a task, usually, things pop into your mind by the force of association. These are important things — that you really need to keep, So instead of directing my focus elsewhere, I quickly write that idea down in the list and follow up later — not during my Pomodoro Window.
Interrupts are Tomato Killers
We all know how it is — during the day you have a lot of interrupts — They are annoying, they steal your time and break your focus.
You need to train yourself to make sure that your tomatoes do not get interrupted.
My Tomatoes are sacred !
There are 2 types of interrupts — internal and external:
Internal interrupts
Let’s be honest — we mostly interrupt ourselves.
- If you have a thought that jumps to your head — write it down in the “Ideas List” and move on.
- If you find your mind wandering to different places — bring it back — it gets easier in time, as your brain learns to keep focus for the 25-Minutes window.
- Phone beeps and message alerts — turn them off! keep out anything that would steal your focus (like that new YouTube video of a cat in the Olympics that just got out — this too can wait). If you can put your phone in a different room or put it in Airplane mode, if you can’t stay away from your phone for 25-minutes (really ?) make sure you keep only the most critical notification on and quickly review them before deciding to break your window.
External Interrupts
These are interruptions from other people which come up to you and you can’t press their nose to turn off.
- External noises or words that get your attention in other people’s conversation — I usually work with headphones with classical music blocking the environment.
- People coming to you — make people respect your time… When you are with headphones — people think that you are in a phone/zoom meeting, it’s much easier and doesn’t hurt their feelings if you give a little gesture of “I’ll catch you later — can’t talk now”.
Experiment with the length of your Pomodoros
Like everything in life — it’s not a 1 rule fits all.
And even here — 25 minutes might not fit your rhythm or the type of tasks you do — for most people and tasks it will work great, but some require a different window of Pomodoro in order to be at their best.
Try different slots until you find the one perfect for you.
The best method would be to keep the window at the same length all the time: for your brain to adapt to the required focus window, but it might not fit different tasks you have to do so might have 2–3 window slots (but keep it to a minimum).
For some types of work that require extended periods in a creative “flow” state, like brainstorming, coding, writing, etc — 25 minutes might be too short — try longer windows.
Some will even prefer a full 90-minutes with a 30-minute break afterward (based on Ultradian rhythms) for some tasks.
For tasks that you’ve been putting off for one reason or another, 25 minutes might be too long. If you’re feeling a lot of mental resistance, or you just can’t get yourself to stay focused for 25 minutes, try a 15-, 10-, or even 5-minute Pomodoro.
Just make sure you work in Pomodoros.
Recommended Tools and Resources
In case you need a timer — I recommend these:
1. Online — Apps for the Pomodoro Technique
PomoFocus — Online Pomodoro timer — Online Pomodoro Timer with 2 timers — one for the Pomodoro work slot and one for the break. You can add task names and plan your day ahead for the slots required. Go to the Pomofoucs.io
2. Physical -
- White Pomodoro Timer — Pomodoro Timer with 2 timers — one for the Pomodoro work slot and one for the break. Get it from Amazon.
- RED Tomato Pomodoro Timer — Classic Pomodoro Timer (looks like an actual Tomato), configurable for the Pomodoro work slot and the break. Get it from Amazon.
In Summary
I highly recommend this method!
It beats procrastination and helps you actually get things done on the thing that you want to work on.
Have you ever tried this technique? Do you think it will impact your productivity and stress?
If you liked this article there are many more in my Productivity Blog:
https://www.productivateme.com/
Now go get Productivated :-)
