You have already clearly decided to finish the report\project\lab work today and not a minute later. After all, your future depends on it. However, after a while, you find yourself doing something completely unrelated to the previously identified task. And the time to get close to your desired goal has disappeared. And this repeats day after day. The Pomodoro technique will help to break this vicious circle.
The creator of this method is Francesco Cirillo. Now it is a successful owner of a consulting firm, and in the past, an ordinary student of one of the universities in Italy, who managed to change the attitude of people to their time, as well as increase the efficiency of their own work.
During the studing, Francesco completed his homework on time and diligently studied all the material. But, while preparing for exams, he noticed that the quality of his studies is not at the highest level. After analyzing the situation, he came to the conclusion that in order for the learning process to be more effective, absolute concentration is necessary. To do this, he started a kitchen timer in the shape of a tomato (hence the name of the method) and didn't distract from his task until it rang. After that, Cirillo took a short break. As it turned out, this method allows you to really master the information in a shorter time.
The essence of this technique is as follows:
- You need to create a list of issues and divide them by priority.
- It is important to choose the ones that are needed to be completed today.
- Next, you need to set a timer from 25 to 45 minutes, depending the complexity of the task.
- After the time has passed, it is important to rest for 5-10 minutes.
- After 4 "tomatoes" make a longer break.
- Repeat the last 3 steps until all scheduled tasks are completed.
Currently, more than 2 million people have used the Pomodoro method and are convinced of its effectiveness. Also, we have identified 7 reasons why you should implement it in your daily practice and experience all the advantages of the Pomodoro technique.
1. Easy to use
Many people have a desire to apply time management for improving their productivity. For example, some people were led to this decision by a constantly burning deadline at work, others were tired of feeling guilty because of procrastination, and freelancers or people working at home are looking for a suitable way to organize the workflow. And thanks to the Pomodoro timer that you can get rid of the constant distraction of useless little things. Just turn on the timer on your smartphone for 25 (45) minutes and fully immerse yourself in the work. The main thing is to put the phone away to have no temptations. After working time, it is important to take a 5-minute break. By the way, the period allocated for work and rest may vary depending on the complexity of the task.
2. Increasing the concentration
Scientists at the Princeton Institute of Neurology have shown that our brain looks for ways to distract itself 4 times a second. In other words, we stop focusing on the task for 14,400 times an hour. All this happens automatically. However, if you are “briefly” distracted while working on a project to check your social media feed, this is only your responsibility. The Pomodoro timer is designed to stop you from wanting to do something else. After all, for a certain short period of time, you must plunge into the so-called state of flux. You are completely immersed in the workflow and all your thoughts are moving in the same direction.
3. Increase working productivity
An indicator of high employee productivity is the quality and speed of performing a particular task. Some try to achieve their goals as soon as possible, increasing the number of working hours and sacrificing their free time. The consequence of this schedule is professional burnout. However, using the Pomodoro technique to perform tasks of any complexity easily solves this problem. After all, splitting a large task into several small ones makes it much easier to cope with it. Moreover, you will get rid of multitasking, which is harmful for your productivety.
4. Profession doesn't matter
The modern world dictates its own rules. Now many employees have shifted to remote mode. In this case, the Pomodoro method helps the most:
- programmers,
- designers,
- copywriters.
This way, they will not lose the desire to perform their tasks efficiently and not be tempted to distract themselves with something else. At the same time, this technique also deserves attention of office workers who lose concentration and can not plan their working day to get everything done on time. By the way, such employees should also pay attention to a simple time tracker Checkiant. Its wide functionality will help you track not only the time spent on solving tasks, but also let you know about your real earnings and get information about the progress of all your projects.
5. Efficiency control
How do I determine how effective my work day was? And if we are talking about a month or half a year? Using the Pomodoro technique, you know exactly how much time you spent on a particular task. Thanks to this kind of statistics, you will see how the level of your personal effectiveness changes depending on the tasks you set.
6. Approaching goals
Getting the desired result after hard work, we experience incredible pleasure. This feeling causes a high release of dopamine or the happiness hormone. But by delaying the work performance or distracting ourselves, we are distancing ourselves from the desired reward. One of the main tasks of the Pomodoro method is to help you to achieve your goals as quickly as possible, as well as to control the progress towards them.
7. Training in proper planning
This technique is based on planning. By prioritizing tasks and allocating a clear amount of time to complete them, you become more organized and get used to time management. Once such techniques become a habit, it will be much easier for you to cope with various tasks, as well as to get rid of procrastination and burnout.
P.S.: Value your time and use it for your advantage thanks to high-quality time management. Not only “tomatoes” will help you, and also the simple time tracker Chekiant.
See also:
Time traps and how to fight them
Sketchnoting for time management. Draw your working day
Top 15 reasons why we don't have enough time for everything
How to easily and effectively organize your workflow at home