My sister (a self-employed graphic designer) recently introduced me to the pomodoro technique. We were discussing the problem of actually keeping on top of our to-do lists (and having time for non-work living too) instead of frantically dashing from deadline to deadline.
The basic concept is simple: set a timer for 25 minutes and commit yourself to doing whatever it is you need to do for those 25 minutes, without distraction. It's the last bit that's the key. Working efficiently and with focus is much easier if you are free to get absorbed in whatever it is you're doing. Our workspaces are often full of conflicting noises and stimuli, all competing for our attention. Emails, text messages, facebook alerts, colleagues dropping in, student queries...they all pull us away from the task at hand.
Apparently it takes up to five minutes for your brain to regain the level of concentration and focused attention that you were at everytime you're distracted. And it's not just your own phone or email that has this effect; those of others around you will also pull your brain out of a state of focused productivity. So, despite the best of intentions, it's all too easy to end up getting less done than we wished or intended.
Getting rid of distractions:
- Set aside a time for focused work, preferably early in the day when most of us are most alert
- Decide not to check your email until after the end of this designated work period
- Actually follow through on step 2. It's so easy to think "oh I'll just check my email before I start that important job". Two hours later and you still haven't gotten to it.
- Turn off the "push" setting on your phone and other devices, so your email only picks up new messages when you check it.
- Turn on the "do not disturb" setting on your phone. It's only going to be for 25 minutes, so you won't end up neglecting anything important.
- Close the door of your office and put a "please do not disturb sign on it" or try and work somewhere quiet (I sometimes head down to the library at work if I need to get something finished).
- Put on earphones. You don't need to listen to anything but other people will be less likely to disturb you unless it's immediately important (or the building is on fire).
- Set a timer for 25 minutes and get started.
- Once the timer rings you can stop and put a check mark on a piece of paper. This physical act is intended to confirm your completion of the work period. Then check your messages, have a break, a stretch, a coffee, a chat. Whatever you like for five minutes.
- Repeat if necessary, until the task is done or your designated productive work period is over. Take a longer break (20-30 minutes) after four pomodoros. This will avoid you getting over-tired and less productive.
Francesco Cirillo came up with the concept as a time management technique in the 1980s. He decided to call the intervals pomodoros (the Italian plural for tomatoes), after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he had used as a student.
So does it work? In a word: yes, for me anyway, I found it highly effective, 25 minutes is long enough to get absorbed in a task and make good progress, but not so long that I got bored, hungry, stiff or distracted.
It's much easier to talk yourself into doing something you've been putting off if you're only making a 25 minute commitment. I found however that once I got started the job wasn't so bad. I found myself wondering "why did I put this off for so long already?". I'm well aware that there is no motivation fairy and usually I'll never feel ready for a job that I nevertheless need to start (like writing an academic journal article so that I can finish my PhD on schedule!).
Changing my mindset from "I need to write 5000 words" to "I need to make a start on that and I can stop in less than half an hour if it's going nowhere" has improved my motivation and led to less procrastination. Actually getting started on it has meant that after one session I can see some progress and so the overall task is that bit less daunting. This makes it easier to commit to another 25 minutes and so on. There's a nice feeling of progress being made, which is also motivating. So thanks to my sister Eileen for making me aware of this and here's to finishing a PhD thesis in half hour increments!
Further details
Overview of the concept: https://cirillocompany.de/pages/pomodoro-technique
Some more details: http://baomee.info/pdf/technique/1.pdf
A video overview from Med School Insider, aimed at students: https://youtu.be/mNBmG24djoY