The Pomodoro Method: How does it work?

Photo by Olena Sergienko on Unsplash

Is solitary work exhausting you?

Are you facing the challenge of not being able to focus on your work or personal goals?

Are you constantly checking your phone, your social media, or even your fitbit while wanting to focus on your task at hand?

Try the Pomodoro method: Take a 5 minute break after every 25 minutes of focused work

I recently started implementing this method when I have to sit for long hours working on office assignments. The pandemic and remote work has made it harder for me to focus due to no human contact. This method works because you have something to look forward to after those 25 minutes. A break and your mind focuses better when it is waiting for a reward at the end of all that focus time.

The simple reason this works is evolutionary biology, since our brains cannot focus on any one time for a long period of time to avoid burn outs. I have the following schedule and it has helped me immensely in the past 2 months:

1. Set up a work time of 25 minutes followed by a break time of 5 minutes
2. I play jazz music in the background, which acts like white noise for me and helps me focus better. You can choose a good music track or silence if that is golden for you
3. Assign tasks at the beginning of your day for the 25 minute focus periods. I add these to my outlook and usually focus on 1 task at a time
4. Do not use your phone, check your emails (unless responding to emails is your focus task), basically no distractions. This is what breaks are for
5. Do not skip your breaks. They are equally important
6. Take a 15 minute break as a reward after 4 or 5 sessions depending on your capacity to work through these focus time periods
7. As you get better, increase your focus time to 50 minutes and rest time to 10 minutes

Try this and let me know if these tips helped you too.

All the best!