Pomodoro Technique

The 40 year old productivity hack that's even more effective today.

In 1987 a lazy Italian university student named Francesco Cirillo was struggling to focus, falling behind in his studies and near the bottom of his class. The problem was he couldn’t seem to focus at all, especially not for the hours required to complete his assignments. 

Francesco was seriously considering dropping out of university and giving up his studies when he had an idea. He thought “I can’t focus for hours but can I focus for at least 10 minutes?” He ran to the kitchen and grabbed a timer shaped like a tomato (Pomodoro in Italian) and set it for 10 minutes. 


He stayed completely focused for 10 minutes getting a small win and gaining momentum. Gradually he started increasing the time he spent focusing and after much experimentation, leading to a successful book on time management, he realised that 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break gave the best results. 

Francesco soon went from the bottom of his class to the top and named his new method - The Pomodoro Technique after the timer he initially used. 

Why it works

Short breaks 

Firstly, it’s been proven that taking short breaks during work makes us more effective. There have been numerous scientific studies that show that short breaks enhance concentration and creativity, making us more effective at learning and problem solving. 

Manageable chunks 

Having a large project to work on can be daunting. It’s difficult to imagine ourselves working uninterrupted for the hours required to complete a large project. But we find it much less daunting when we break down our work into manageable chunks. It’s like the old saying “How do you eat an Elephant…? One bite at a time” 

Removing distractions

The difference between Francesco in 1987 and today is that there are even more distractions, making the technique even more important. But even in 1987 there were still the typical interruptions of going to the bathroom, getting a drink or a snack, that we can use to procrastinate when we’re subconsciously avoiding our work. 

The Pomodoro technique makes it much easier to delay giving in to these distractions because you know that you’re going to get a break soon. Allowing you to get into flow and get dramatically more done.

How to do the Pomodoro technique?

How to make the Pomodoro technique even more effective

We developed the FocusCube to make the Pomodoro technique even easier to add to your work routine, without using the timer on your phone which can lead to serious distraction (Hyperlink) 

With the FocusCube you simply flip the timer when you’re ready to start working and flip again when you’re finished with your ‘Pomodoro’. Making it quicker and easier to get into your focus sessions.

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FocusCube

Specially designed to make using the Pomodoro technique as easy as possible to integrate into your work routine.

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