The Pomodoro technique

#productivity #learning #career #beginners

You must have heard about it a lot. You must have tried. You may have found it too much. You may have stopped. But the Pomodoro technique is timeless and scientifically backed. So I'm here to remind you about it again with a very bite sized summary. And if you have read the previous posts in this series, you will have a general idea how regular reminders are helpful.

Pomodoro

25 mins of focus, 5 mins of rest - together known as 1 round of Pomodoro
no hard rule, go slightly longer if it suits you but not too long. Some studies show that 52-17 works pretty well too.
use a timer/stopwatch to repeat. Or use Tomatoes. For people like me who are on the laptop all day, websites are better than any stopwatch or mobile app.
good way to prevent procrastination as its difficult to lose focus in 25 mins
start with the hardest task in every Pomodoro and then move on to easier tasks. You will be at the peak of your focus after that short much needed rest.
Rest time means you do not do anything brain intensive. Do not look at your phone or read articles on the web. Maybe close your eyes or get something to eat or walk around in the house. Try to avoid pen, paper and screen at all costs.
You do not have to do Pomodoro all day. You only do it when you need to work and its fine to do other stuff in between. E.g. you can work for 1 hour doing 2 rounds of Pomodoro - watch an episode of your favorite show - get back to work
Just know that 25 mins of focus and 5 mins of complete rest is your strategy whenever you sit down to work.
Sometimes your brain will not stop thinking about the work in those 5 mins. Its fine. Practice will make it perfect.