Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the late 1980s by then university student Francesco Cirillo. Cirillo was struggling to focus on his studies and complete assignments. Feeling overwhelmed, he asked himself to commit to just 10 minutes of focused study time. Encouraged by the challenge, he found a tomato (Pomodoro in Italian) shaped kitchen timer, and the Pomodoro technique was born.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system that encourages people to work with the time they have — rather than against it. Using this method, you break your workday into 25-minute chunks separated by five-minute breaks. These intervals are referred to as Pomodoro. After about four pomodoros, you take a longer break of about 15 to 20 minutes.

It is approachable because it is more about consistency than perfection. Each session is a fresh start to reevaluate your goals, challenge yourself to focus, and limit distractions. You can make the system work for you

For every project throughout the day, you budget your time into short increments and take breaks periodically.

Making it easy to just get started

Combating distractions

Becoming aware of where your time goes

The Pomodoro Technique can be a valuable weapon against the planning fallacy. When you start working in short, timed sessions, time is no longer an abstract concept but a concrete event. It becomes a Pomodoro — a unit of both time and effort. Distinct from the idea of 25 minutes of general “work,” the Pomodoro is an event that measures focus on a single task (or several simple tasks).

During the day you are so tired. You barely leave your desk because you have so much to do but you are leaving quality on the table because you are burnt out. You need the Pomodoro technique to ensure you take regular breaks and stay fresh throughout the day.

The process isn’t ideal for every person, or in any line of work, but if you need a systematic way to tackle your daily to-do list, the Pomodoro Technique may fit your needs

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