The Pomodoro Technique

Ever felt like you're drowning in a sea of unending tasks, struggling to stay afloat amidst the chaos of school or work? Join me on a journey to reclaim control over your time and productivity as we explore the transformative Pomodoro Technique.

One of the most challenging parts of school is studying. Every student is different, so when we see others not studying at all yet outperforming us we blame it on the fact that the other is just way smarter. A genius! However, how many of us have faced our problems, researched studying methods, implemented and tested them in our own lives, and adapted them to our preferences. I can say I fell in the category of not doing this for a long time. Not until my first semester in an integrated MAcc program, that I quickly noticed I was struggling to keep up, perform, and understand the material. I found myself reaching out to professors for advice, watching YouTube videos, and researching different study and productivity methods. Throughout that journey, I learned so many things, including the Pomodoro technique. For me, this technique allowed me to study for a longer more intense duration while maintaining my focus and not getting distracted from my task. So we are going to explore this method in more depth, and hopefully, you can try it out and adapt it for yourselves! And always remember, what works for one person doesn’t mean it works for everyone, there are so many techniques out there, and in the future, I would love to cover more!

What is the Pomodoro Technique?

“The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system that encourages people to work with the time they have—rather than against it”. Essentially, this method breaks your time into 25-minute blocks of work, with 5 minutes of breaks in between. And after about 2 hours, most take a longer break. This method of breaking up your work allows you to be more focused on your task, with a reward in mind. It also allows your level of focus and productivity to stay at a much higher level as you will avoid burning yourself out. And finally, it creates a sense of urgency where will want to complete your task within your 25 minutes period, and most times I found I got more work done in these periods.

While some struggle to keep track of their time, I find it easy to just set up timers right on my laptop when I am working and have them going in the background. This is an easy way to let me quickly time myself without having to use multiple devices.

My Experience

Initially, I thought I would not like this method. However, when I started to implement it, I was shocked by how well it worked for me. I would always get distracted while studying for so long, or find anything else to do except my work. But when I began using this method, I noticed I would sit down for 2 or more hours without even realizing it.

25 minutes was the perfect amount of time for me to get a significant amount of work done, while not overdoing it. Most times, I had this desire to want to finish my task within the time frame, which made me work harder and more efficiently.

In addition, the breaks were extremely helpful for me. Knowing that in a few minutes, I could relax, check my phone, meditate, get up and walk around, or do anything encouraged me to keep doing my work while giving me something to look forward to.

What is great about this technique is the fact it is highly adaptable. You can set your timer for how long or little as you would like; or for however much time you have. The breaks help to keep you recharged and fresh, not burning out, and maintaining the same level of focus you started with!

After implementing this technique into my life, I noticed an increase in my level of productivity across the board but also noticed I started to perform significantly better in school. My grades shot up and my understanding of the material went with it. In addition, I was ahead of my work, instead of trying to keep up. All of this while not feeling burnt out, overwhelmed, or drained. For me, it is a sustainable method of productivity that I can use to study, complete work, or work on projects. It is one of the only techniques where I was able to keep myself from getting distracted easily and has become a part of my daily life.

Example Implementation

The easiest way to implement this technique would be to utilize timer apps. Just make a 25-minute and a 5-minute timer, and cycle between them. I find it best that I begin my initial work session already knowing what my task is, as opposed to starting my timer and then figuring out what I want to accomplish. This gets me off on the right foot and I immediately get to work. If I finish my task before the 25 minutes, I simply move on to my next task, or do anything else productive during that time: organizing, journaling, or working on my blog! During my breaks, I tend to check my phone, meditate, or get up and get some fresh air. All though it seems small, a quick 5 minutes in the sun or meditating allows me not to get overwhelmed and to maintain my focus.

Eager to break free from the cycle of overwhelm and underperformance? Embrace the Pomodoro Technique as your personal productivity hack and embark on a journey towards greater efficiency, effectiveness, and success.