The Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the late 1980s by university student Francesco Cirillo . Cirillo struggled to focus on his work and complete his assignments . Feeling overwhelmed , he asked himself to devote just 10 minutes of focused study �me . Encouraged by the challenge , he found a kitchen �mer in the shape of a tomato ( Italian pomodoro ) and the Pomodoro technique was born .
The Pomodoro Technique is a �me management system that encourages people to work with the �me they have , not against it . Using this method , you divide your workday into 25-minute chunks separated by five-minute intervals . These intervals are called pomodoro . A�er about four pomodoros , you take a longer break of about 15 to 20 minutes .
1- Get a to-do list and a �mer .
2- Set your �mer for 25 minutes and focus on one task un�l the �mer goes off .
3- When your session is over , mark a pomodoro and record what you have completed .
4- Then take a five-minute break . A�er four Pomodoro , take a longer , more restora�ve break of 15-30 minutes .
The idea behind the technique is that the �mer ins�ls a sense of urgency . You know that you only have 25 minutes to make as much progress on a task as possible , rather than feeling like you have endless �me to get things done on the workday . Addi�onally , forced breaks help heal that �red , burnt feeling that most of us experience towards the end of the day . Since clicking the clock reminds you to get up and breathe , it is impossible to spend hours in front of your computer without even realizing it .
When you start working with short , �med sessions , �me is no longer an abstract concept , but a concrete event . It becomes a pomodoro - a unit of both �me and effort . Unlike the general idea of " work " for 25 minutes , the pomodoro is an ac�vity that measures focus on a single task .