In my opinion.

OK, I get that it doesn’t work for everyone. Sometimes you need to get into the flow of what you are doing and you don’t need some timer stopping you just when you are getting into it.

Bizarrely having written that, I have just reminded myself how much I like the ‘flow’ concept too – particularly after having read the book.

So maybe there are times to use the Pomodoro technique and times not to.

By the way, if you don’t know what the Pomodoro technique is, read about it here: The Pomodoro Technique: How a TOMATO can Change Your Life & Super-Charge Your Efficiency

Another thought – if you think that you have tried it but it just hasn’t worked for you, then it may not be the idea itself that is flawed, or even your suitability to it, but rather the execution of it.

Let’s take a look…

Why More on The Pomodoro Technique?

Well for that reason, because there are some nuances I didn’t write about the first time.

I am in a situation right now, today where I have a *lot* to get done (nothing particularly major just lots of things that have piled up) so I thought to crack through lots of it and get some focus I would use the good old pomodoro technique.

Today I have decided on 30 minute slots with very short breaks in between (0-5 mins, enough time to make a cup of tea on some of them). This because I have lots of relatively small tasks or groups of small tasks (e.g. one is getting through a backlog of emails) to do so that is the time split I think will work best for the general ‘shape’ of the stuff I’d like to get through today.

So you might have guessed it, I am using one of my 30 min ‘slots’ to write this article.

Play Around With It – Try These Adjustments

So the extra thoughts on this I want to offer are to add some extra notes on how I use this…

When to use it: I don’t use it all the time but when I want to get some focus and lots done in a relatively short space of time (usually in a day’s work) so knowing when to employ the Pomodoro technique is probably one thing to consider – it is probably not useful in all situations. Personally though, whenever I have used it whether for physical work, admin work or pretty much any set of activities I want to get done, it has always worked well for me. What I get from it is added focus, more generally achieved, a good way of dealing with distractions (i.e. I have no time for them) and a huge increase in motivation and enjoyment in what I’m doing (because I happen to like variety and this lets me do lots of different things at once).

Timings: I usually go for combinations like this: 45 mins on, 15 mins off, 30 mins on, 5 or 10 mins of, 1 hour on 15 mins off. You can use any timings you want. If you want to get into the flow of things, there’s nothing to say you couldn’t do 1.5 hour or 2 hour slots with a break between. Play around with different timings and see what works for you. When I want to get lots of little tasks done I tend to go for shorter work periods and short breaks and also vary hugely what I’m doing between ‘slots’ going back to work non-consecutively if needed. It increases focus.

Consecutive vs Non-Consecutive: You can use the Pomodoro technique even for huge tasks, just working in segments. the question then is whether you come back to the same task after a break or switch things up. Play around with this as some tasks you may want to work on then have a short break then get right back to – because you are motivated to continue or really getting somewhere. Sometimes (and this is more the way I like to do things) deliberately taking yourself away from an unfinished task but knowing you are coming back to it and doing something else in between, you may get more focus on both tasks (I do). This is also probably heavily influenced by the complexity of the tasks – i.e. the more complex a task the more likely you will want to do it consecutively.

Strictly Observing the ‘Rules’: Just because the alarm goes off (or music stops, buzzer sounds, whatever you use), doesn’t mean you *have* to stop. Obviously if you are nearly there, then you could allow yourself 5 or 10 more minutes to finish what you are doing. A sensible way of employing the Pomodoro technique is to use the timings as a guide. Obviously if you go too far and just ignore it completely then you may need to more disciplined, then go for doing more consecutive work so you can finish what you were doing. If I have finished a sub-task in 25 minutes on a 30 min timer, then I would usually just go to the next thing.

Final Thought

The idea to write this came as a ‘whim’ among what I’m doing and felt like something it would be fairly easy to write and worth sharing on the site.

It may not be the best article I’ve ever written but I wanted to get it down – before the previous article (and part of the reason I have been employing the Pomodoro technique in the first place) I just hadn’t updated the website for ages. I got busy with other things, life takes over and before you know it it is 3 months since you looked at your website.

30 mins to write an article isn’t typical but that’s how long this one has taken, probably thanks to writing it this way, on a whim, as part of the ‘Pomodoro technique’ organised day I’m having and because I know that’s the time I have to do it.

Believe it or not I am actually finishing this bang on 30 mins. Right now as I type my alarm is sounding so I will probably write one or two more lines then just hit ‘Publish’.

So if it’s not particularly ‘polished’ that’s why but I’m sure you get the message of what I’m trying to get across here anyway & hope you’ve found this useful.