Can a Tomato Can Make You More Productive?
What can I do to be more productive? Perhaps the most asked question by today’s working IT professional (probably all working professionals for that matter).
Francesco Cirillo asked himself this question during his time as a university student in the 1980’s. Unable to keep up with his mounting assignments, Cirillo began to suspect simply sitting at his desk and grinding through additional work hours wouldn’t give him a more productive day.
Enter the Tomato
Noting the negative impact of distraction, interruption and inattentiveness on productivity, Cirilo measured when these naturally occurring problems cropped up and devised a productivity system that incorporated them.
Named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timers he used to measure out his work cycles, Cirillo’s Pomodoro Technique (the “Tomato” Technique in Italian) is as simple as it is effective:
- Set a timer for 25 minutes.
- Work with complete focus during those 25 minutes.
- When the 25 minutes are up, take a 5-minute break.
- That’s one 30 minute cycle.
- Repeat.
- After four 30 minute cycles take a 15 – 30 minute break.
It goes without saying (but let’s say it anyway)- this technique works best if you focus on a single task for 25 minutes instead of jumping from task to task.
Let’s not be too didactic about this
You don’t have to follow this exact timing structure if it doesn’t fit you perfectly (I don’t). But the basic idea of working in focused bursts of attention, followed by taking breaks, makes a lot of sense.
Go ahead and pick the precise cycles of work and rest that best fit your work needs. Writing code for a website? You may want longer bursts to knock out your ideas. Doing budget plans for a big project that require lots of verification calls to colleagues and vendors? You’ll want shorter cycles. No matter the precise timing of the intervals you adopt, your productivity will increase as long as you use a cyclical approach to work and rest.
We may never know what the “best” productivity method is. But the Pomodoro Technique is certainly a tool you should have in your toolbox. Give it a try and let me know if it helps you.
