Everything you need to know about the Pomodoro technique

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

One of the key time management techniques is the Pomodoro technique. Many have heard about her in one form or another, but no one has a common understanding of what she is. We decided to disassemble this technique piece by piece and created this guide.

Despite the fact that time management has experienced the peak of its popularity, when almost everyone was talking about it, time management is still the only way to properly build a workflow and separate it from personal affairs.

Although almost everyone knows about the Pomodoro technique, it seemed to us that the general baggage of knowledge is still not enough - information about the "tomato" technique has to be found bit by bit. We have collected in one place everything you need to know about Pomodoro: history of creation, goals, rules, answered frequently asked questions and selected the best applications and services.

Below we will tell the history of the creation of technology, its key goals, features, and also select the best tools for all operating systems: Windows, OS X, iOS, Android and even Windows Phone.

History

In the 1980s, people had other problems, less thought about time management. Francesco Cirillo, then a student at an Italian university, felt depressed after completing his first year and successfully passing his exams. Coming home from the university, he continued to study and soon realized that he did not understand what he was spending his time on.

The new exams came faster than he thought, and it turned out that Cirillo was not ready for them, although he spent a lot of time studying. Realizing this, he asked the question: "Can I really study for at least 10 minutes?" Such a goal is not enough - an objective judge was needed, and this was a small kitchen timer in the form of a tomato. This is how the technique got its name. This test was the beginning of Pomodoro, and after months of practice, research and experimentation, it has evolved into what we will discuss below.

Why is it needed

In an era of constant distraction, when everything is done with the aim of luring and drawing your attention to yourself, managing your time is very important. By using the Pomodoro Technique or another alternative technique, you increase your productivity by doing more in less time.

According to Cirillo, the main goals are as follows:

1. Supporting the determination to achieve one's own goals.
2. Improving work and learning process.
3. Increasing the efficiency of work and study.
4. Development of determination to act in difficult situations.

Technique is just a tool to help you achieve this. The rest is up to you.

The essence of the Pomodoro technique

For the sake of simplicity, we will only mention the workflow, although the technique is also suitable for learning.

The segments of time into which the work is divided are conventionally called tomatoes. One "tomato" lasts 30 minutes: 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of rest. Almost every year, new studies appear that tell about the effectiveness of other time periods, but we take the original technique as a basis.

Before starting the timer, you must create a list of work tasks. There are various applications and services for this (we will touch on them below), but you can also use a regular sheet of paper. Let's start with this.

Take a piece of paper and head it "Tasks for Today." Considering the priorities (from the most important to the least important), make a list of all tasks for today. After that, set a timer for 25 minutes and start working.

When the timer rings, you have a 5-minute rest. At this time, it is undesirable to be engaged in work affairs and it is better to relax and get distracted from work. After 5 minutes, you need to return to the task and continue its execution. Each "tomato" segment must be marked with a cross in front of the task that you are performing. After four stretches, take a long break - 15 to 30 minutes. When you finish working on a problem, cross it off the list and start the next one.

Keeping a list of tasks is necessary for self-control and monitoring of your effectiveness. For example, after a week has passed, you can see how many “tomatoes” have been spent on a particular task. Of course, multiplying the number of segments by 25 minutes, you get more common units of measurement than “tomatoes” - minutes.

Dealing with Distractions

Although the Pomodoro Technique is designed to combat distractions, they still appear in the process. If the 25-minute period is not over yet, and you can't help but be distracted, put an apostrophe "’ "on the sheet where you write down the crosses. After that, add the new activity to your list of tasks and try to finish the task that you worked on before.

This is not the case in the official version of the technique, but many advise you to rate the importance of distraction on a ten-point scale, where 10 points is the task of maximum importance, and 1 point is a task that is not worth your attention at the moment. Cirillo insists that any distraction can wait until the timer ends, which should never be paused. If you can't wait, you need to turn off the timer, do what you need to do, and get back to work again by starting the timer from the beginning.

If you are still distracted, put a dash "-" in front of the unfinished task. By evaluating them in the future, you will be able to understand which tasks you were least productive at.

Subsequent evaluation

After using the Pomodoro technique for several days, you will be able to estimate how many "tomatoes" you have for each day. For example, a standard eight-hour workday is equal to 14 tomato segments. By making a list of tasks for the day, you estimate in advance which tasks to allocate more time for, which ones - less, and which ones should be rescheduled for tomorrow.

Over time, you can divide the work segments into several parts, leaving 3-5 minutes at the beginning of the segment to study the work done before, and 3-5 minutes at the end to review what you were doing now. This analysis does not require a change in the duration of the pomodoro. If the analysis is difficult for you, postpone it for the future. This means that you have not yet mastered the basics of technology.

Apps and services

Let's touch on the most interesting. We have collected the best "tomato" solutions for all popular devices.

Windows

1. Keep Focused is a simple timer for Pomodoro.

2. - unsightly, but free timer and task manager.

3. - a timer that quietly runs in the taskbar at the bottom.

4. - perhaps one of the best timers for Windows 7.

OS X

1. - great timer with statistics.

2. Eggscellent - not updated for a long time, but free timer.

3. is a good application in which you can set the working intervals yourself.

Android

1. Clockwork Tomato is a timer app and widget for your desktop.

2. Forest - combines the Pomodoro technique and gamification.

iOS

1. - cool looking timer with in-app purchases. You can use it without them.

2. - combines the Pomodoro technique and gamification.

Services and extensions

1. - a service that combines "tomato" technique, detailed statistics and various game moments.

2. for Google Chrome.

Bonus: "tomato" timer from Ikea.

Questions

What if the task has already been completed and the time has not run out?

You cannot turn off the timer ahead of time. If you don't have much time left, take on tasks that are not on your list today. You can schedule tasks for the next day, read something, or discuss a work question.

What if I want to work more or less?

According to Cirillo, the optimal duration of the "tomato" is 20–35 minutes. But, having mastered the technique, you can experiment and change the intervals depending on how you prefer to work.

Which timer is better to use: a real one or in the form of an application, a service? What about the task list?

It does not matter. Your best bet is to try both: the app and the real timer. An indisputable advantage of applications and services is that their settings are more flexible. The same goes for the to-do list: if you don't need extra functionality, a piece of paper or a notebook will suffice.

What is call fear?

It is anxiety caused by the feeling that you are under the control of a timer. Most often, the fear of a call is experienced by people who are not used to self-discipline. Try to get over yourself.

Why do we need all these apostrophes, crosses and dashes?

For analysis. By reviewing these notes in the future, you will be able to determine which tasks required patience from you, which passed without distraction, and which were so uninteresting or difficult that you could not finish them and began to do something else.

Are there studies to support the effectiveness of the technique?

Yes. Even if you do not touch on the research conducted by Cirillo himself. For example, Federico Gobbo and Matteo Vaccari behind a group of programmers working with and without technology. The efficiency of their work on the Pomodoro technique was higher. Another, by Staples, showed the inefficiency of workers who work non-stop outside of lunchtime.

In addition, David Nowell, PhD in Psychology and renowned blogger, also uses this technique. he tells why.

What if I don't want to use the Pomodoro technique and want to try something different?

Lifehacker has dozens of articles covering various productivity and time management techniques. alternatives to standard task lists. And an alternative view of productivity and "tomato" technique.

It's boring, I want something more interesting

Our author Farid Karimov talks about gamification - the application of a gaming approach to non-gaming tasks - and how it affects productivity.