Boost Productivity Using Pomodoro

Gamify task completion in terms of tomatoes instead of hours.

This Article was originally published on thegeminiansoul.medium.com on Dec 16, 2020.

Most of us have felt the strong urge to deviate from daily tasks especially if they are complex and huge. Be it work, academics or any other day to day chores. The online world has converted us into professional procrastinators. ‘ I will start doing it from tomorrow' is something our minds have made us believe to avoid the guilt of incompletion of our tasks. Back in the 80s, an Italian University student, Francesco Cirillo, encountered the same dilemma and tried an experiment for boosting work productivity that turned out to be quite renowned in the years to come — 'The Pomodoro' which is Italian for Tomato.

Photo - Pexels

The key thought principle behind the Pomodoro technique is Break down or Divide and Conquer if you will.

• Breakdown the overall task into subtasks of durations of 25 minutes each. By chance, if you complete the subtask before the timer hits 25, utilize the extra time to do some quick research or learning

• If there are smaller tasks, club them together such that you can complete them in around 25 minutes.

• Reward yourself with a break of 5 minutes after completion of the first subtask. Be mindful of the fact that it is highly recommended to avoid using phone or other digital screens as part of the break as it may lead back to deviation from creative focus. A short walk, meditation, deep breathing, music or a sip of coffee are some of the quality things one can do during those 5 minutes.

• Now, you have completed a Pomodoro.

• Once you complete 4 Pomodoros, take a break of 15–30 minutes.

To summarize the Pomodoro:

Photo - todoist

A sample Pomodoro Task List to draft an Article could be depicted as:

After all, we are all humans and certain distractions are bound to occur. If a certain kind of distracting element strikes you for the first time, do note it down and make such a list of them in time. Ensure you don’t succumb to these in later Pomodoros. This exercise will make the technique even more effective in the long run.

In effect, following the Pomodoro diligently enables heightened time management and productivity levels achieved via focussed work sessions with breaks in between. It eliminates the mental fatigue of trying to complete daunting tasks by setting achievable smaller subtasks in a predefined time frame. A clear idea of what level of completion could be achieved in a certain duration helps avoid underestimation of time required to finish off projects and missing deadlines.

Avoiding the use of digital screens during the Pomodoro is a critical factor for success. This ensures the internal pull to check on Social Media, Videos and other useless distractions are kept at bay, that can eat away time needlessly. Resisting these temptations allow the seamless Task Execution. It preaches the importance of consistency rather than focusing on perfection. Taking around 15–20 minutes to plan the day’s Pomodoros could lead to exponential gains in your daily productivity. Not to mention the positive impact this can have on your morale and quality of work.

To be a consistent practitioner of Pomodoro is easier said than done. It does require a strong purpose, will power and a stubborn mentality to get the job done at the end of the day. Once these prerequisites are met, the results one can expect following the process are pretty outstanding as any ‘Pomodorian’ would say.

The Italians clearly have their way in handling the humble Tomato. Be it in their world famous delicacies or in their work productivity enhancing mechanisms.