Mastering Pomodoro Technique
To Make The Most Of Time

Photo Credit: Michael Zero Mayer via Flickr

The Pomodoro Technique is a revolutionary way of time management technique which you can apply as you learn to adapt it in your daily activities.

This unique time management technique was invented by Francesco Cirillo and it uses simple tools such as, a kitchen timer (the pomodoro), paper and pencil.

Pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato and the kitchen timer was originally in the form of this vegetable so the technique was named after it.

The Pomodoro Technique 25 Minutes

The technique uses a 25 minute kitchen timer which you place near you when you’re working with a particular task. This is a way of monitoring your progress and guarding your time.

While the kitchen timer runs, you maintain the objective of not letting any distraction interrupt your work so that you’ll be making the most of your time.

The goal is to accomplish as much as you can within 25 mins. of the timer. When the timer ends its count, you’ll have to take a break and stop for 5 minutes to refocus, relax a bit then prepare for another 25 mins. of the timer.

What if you don’t have a physical kitchen timer or a pomodoro timer? You can use computer software to assist you instead. You can download one over the internet.

If your task takes too long to finish and you’ve used up 4 kitchen timers or pomodoros which is 100 minutes in total, you’ll have to take a longer break of 20 mins. before you start with another timer or pomodoro.

Watching Your Progress and Keeping Up

Now it’s time to know how the Pomodoro Technique helps you improve your use of time.

This time management technique lets you monitor your progress using a guide on a piece of paper.

Here’s a simple example:

You should create a list on a sheet of paper with 3 columns:

  • The first column should list the tasks or activities you have to finish.
  • The second column should list the number of distractions you encounter when doing a task. You can use a " ’ " or a " / " symbol to mark each.
  • The third column should list the number of pomodoros or 25 minute kitchen timers you use when doing a task.

This is a way of monitoring your progress and the result of using your time. You should take note of what distractions and how many you encounter when doing a specific task.

Distractions may come in different forms like:

  • Social media, such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.
  • Phone calls from friends and others.
  • Television shows and advertisements.
  • And others

It is ideal that the more you use this technique, the lesser your distractions become and the lesser the number of pomodoro timers or kitchen timers you use.

For Your Group and Teammates

If you have a group of people, the Pomodoro Technique can be applied and everyone can benefit from the cooperative effort of the team.

The more people working together while applying this method, the faster the results that can happen and a large task or a big project can be accomplished sooner.

This is in condition that everyone cooperates following the principle of the kitchen timer correctly. If some people don’t, the use of this method for group work may not become successful.

The Pomodoro Technique is a unique and effective way to improve your time management skills. Constant practice and focus on how it’s done will surely lessen the time you consume with any task at hand.


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