What do tomatoes and procrastination have in common? Seemingly nothing, what kind of question is that? But hold your horses, this red vegetable (or fruit) could actually help you be more productive. 

Well, in a roundabout way. It's the Pomodoro Technique (the Italian word for tomato) that can help you stay focused and better manage your time. Developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s as a university student struggling to focus (using a tomato kitchen timer that probably looked like this), this time management method has since gained widespread popularity and is used by millions of people (including us).

So, what exactly is it? The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that breaks down work into 25-minute intervals followed by 5-minute breaks. Each 30-minute chunk of time is called a "Pomodoro." After completing a few of these Pomodoros, you take a longer break, typically around 15-30 minutes.

But is the Pomodoro Technique right for you? The answer depends on your work style, goals, and preferences. For example, if you:

• Get distracted easily 
• Are prone to procrastination 
• Have a busy schedule 
• Need to maximize productivity in short periods 
• Have a tendency to overwork
• Need to complete tasks that require a lot of focus and mental energy
• Struggle to maintain focus for extended periods

Then Pomodoros may be your answer to getting dedicated focus time into your day.

How to use the Pomodoro Technique 

So how does it work? The method behind the Pomodoro is actually pretty simple:

1. Choose a task: Pick a task to focus on (work project, strategic planning, studying, any activity requiring your full attention).
2. Set a timer: Set a task timer for 25 minutes, and disconnect yourself from notification distractions and interruptions. 
3. Work on your task for 25 minutes: Commit your focus to this single task, avoiding multitasking to stay in the zone.
4. Take a 5 minute break: Use this time to relax, stretch, or grab a snack – momentarily detach yourself from the task to recharge your energy.
5. Repeat, take 15-30 minute breaks every 4 Pomodoros: Once your break is up, reset your timer to begin again. After four Pomodoros (or one set), take a 15-30 minute break to restore your energy.

50-minute Pomodoros

Do 25-minute focus sessions feel a bit short? You may prefer 50-minute Pomodoros followed by 10-minute breaks. The key is finding what works best for you – jump ahead to learn more about finding your perfect Pomodoro rhythm.

Why does the Pomodoro Technique work?

Taking all those breaks adds up to quite a bit of time. This seems counterproductive to getting more things done, no? 

The power of the Pomodoro comes from the sense of urgency produced by its strict time limits. You'll be amazed at how much you can accomplish when racing against the clock. And the rigidity of the Pomodoro sessions is something Cirillo really emphasized, as he said, "If a Pomodoro begins, it has to ring." He was onto something here, as research suggests that feelings of urgency are very compelling motivators for our behavior. Just think – you start that timer, and it keeps clicking, second after second. It'll continue to do so with each distraction or lapse of attention. Soon enough, it'll ring, and the Pomodoro will be over. 

Your brain knows that too. This urgency counteracts our innate urge to put things off, allowing you to make great strides in a short amount of time. 

Think of the Pomodoro as being interval training for your brain. As athletes use a sequence of high-intensity exercises followed by short breaks to amplify physical performance, the Pomodoro Technique applies the same principle to your cognitive abilities. By alternating between these high-intensity focused work sessions and short breaks, you can maintain long periods of productive work while still allowing your brain the time to rest and recharge.

6 tips for Pomodoros

Now that we've gotten the basics down, we can dive into some advanced tips and strategies to optimize your Pomodoro task sessions. But remember these are just helpful pointers – it's all about finding what works best for you and sticking to it consistently.

1. Prioritize your tasks 

Before you jump into your Pomodoro sessions, prioritize your tasks based on their importance and urgency. Honestly, this is solid advice regardless of the productivity techniques or methods you are using. 

Something like the Eisenhower Matrix, for example, can help demystify which urgent or important tasks are best suited to your upcoming Pomodoro sprints. 

As mentioned above, you should also always avoid multitasking during your Pomodoros. While you’ll always have lots of tasks in your to-do list, many of which are important, one task per Pomodoro will always be more effective. Otherwise, context-switching will devour your time, defeating the purpose of your dedicated focus session. 

2. Eliminate potential distractions

This one may seem obvious, but of course, it's super important. Anything that diverts your attention from the task is kryptonite to your Pomodoro. Or perhaps we should say, any disturbance is like a raccoon in the night, stealing your tomatoes off the vine. 

At any rate, you want these Pomodoros to yourself. These days, the biggest distractions come from our phones, Slack messages, emails, or any other app that’s competing for your attention. So, during your sessions, put your phone on silent or on Do Not Disturb mode. You could even put it in another room to avoid the temptation of checking it. If it's not your phone that's the culprit, but your browser, try using website blockers on the usual suspects that kill time (YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, etc.).

You can also use tools like Brain.fm, a music streaming service that provides scientifically engineered music to improve focus, relaxation, and sleep to help keep you on track. Brain.fm also includes a built-in Pomodoro timer that is fully customizable in terms of the length of your Pomodoros and your rest times.

Another way to avoid distractions during your Pomodoro sessions is to sync your Slack status to your calendar. This prevents interruptions from colleagues who may not realize you're in the middle of some important work. And if you haven’t started yet, time blocking your calendar is an incredibly powerful method of communicating to everyone you work with when you’re busy, available to meetings, or free for a chat.

3. Find the right Pomodoro rhythm

Need more than 25-minute sessions for your tasks? Don’t be afraid to experiment to find the right amount of time for your Pomodoros and breaks. Cirillo's rhythm outlined in his book is 25 minutes on, 5-10 minutes off, followed by a longer break per Pomodoro session, but there are many ways to build productive breaks into your schedule:

• 30 minute task session, 6 minute break
• 50 minute task session, 10 minute break
• 1.5 hour task session, 15 minute break
• 2 hour task session, 20 minute break

You could even try experimenting with the 52/17 rule (52 minutes of work, 17 minutes of rest).

The length of your Pomodoro sessions may also be better planned around the complexity of your tasks. For example, deep work tasks are the cognitively demanding to-dos (writing, researching, developing) that are best approached through longer work sessions, as it can take 15-20 minutes to enter a productive flow state here. Where shallow work tasks are non-cognitively demanding (emails, calls, quick to-dos) and can be quickly knocked out in a much shorter time.

If you find after a couple Pomodoros, you’re really in the zone – but suddenly the timer goes off – and you don't want to stop. Should you break your flow state for a rest – or keep going?

Quite frankly, the productive flow state can be hard to achieve. A 5-minute break could disrupt it and make it difficult to fall back into when the new Pomodoro starts. So, if the timer goes off and you don't want to stop, keep going! If you're in the zone, we recommend you ride that wave as far as it takes you. Eventually, you'll want to take a break, and here, you can reward yourself with an extended break before diving back into your Pomodoro routine.

4. Take refreshing breaks  

During your rest intervals, engage in activities that help refresh your mind and body. Quick stretches, jumping jacks, deep breathing exercises, or short walks can invigorate and boost your focus for the next Pomodoro. 

You should avoid activities that are distracting or difficult to stop, such as a particularly captivating YouTube video, video/app games, reading page-turners, etc., as they can disrupt your workflow. Once upon a time, we made the mistake of trying to watch episodes of Succession in between Pomodoros. Needless to say, we had to find something less engrossing. 

5. Analyze your productivity

Unfortunately, estimating the time it takes to complete tasks is something we all struggle with. In fact, this difficulty has its own name in social psychology: the planning fallacy. 

Even so, your productivity will really soar if you can get close to accurately estimating how many Pomodoros your to-do list will take. Spoiler, this will help you optimize your capacity planning for how much work you can get done every week to come. You can use the free Reclaim.ai app to analyze your calendar to see how much time you spent on task work vs. breaks every week, and compare how many tasks you actually completed in this time. This will help you better gauge how long certain tasks typically take, enabling you to allocate Pomodoro sessions more accurately in the future.

6. Use Reclaim.ai to organize your Pomodoros

So how do you tie together all of your tasks, breaks, planning, time allocation, Slack notification prevention, and analysis, to be really effective with the Pomodoro Technique? 

You can automate this entire process with a simple free app called Reclaim.ai. This smart AI productivity app for Google Calendar allows you to set your work hours, integrate your task list, automatically find the best time for your tasks in your schedule, and block time for breaks after every work session (while also blocking interruptions over Slack). In fact, it’s so productive, you can save up to 40% of your workweek by defending your time and improving your focus.

But if you work better without a set plan on your calendar, you can also use these popular YouTube task timer videos to automate your Pomodoro sessions in the background:

Are there any drawbacks to the Pomodoro Technique?

While the Pomodoro Technique is a highly effective productivity tool, it's not perfect. Nothing in life is. But, by understanding its flaws, you can better navigate and adjust your technique to keep your Pomodoros maxed with focus. 

Task interruptions & transitions

The most apparent drawback of using the Pomodoro Technique is also what makes it so effective. That is, the periodic interruption of deep work for short breaks. While the Pomodoro Technique helps manage distractions, these transitions could disrupt your flow and reduce productivity. 

Switching abruptly between tasks during Pomodoro breaks or struggling to re-engage with a task after a break can be the most challenging aspect of the Pomodoro, especially for beginners. Remember, don’t live and die by the timer – take your break when it works best for you.

Mental fatigue 

The Pomodoro Technique's intense focus periods may lead to mental fatigue if you're overdoing it or underestimating the time it takes to complete tasks. The reason is that your brain requires various metabolic processes for complex thinking, like the kind required of Pomodoro sessions. And, at a certain point, there's simply no way to avoid mental fatigue, regardless of your productivity methods.

The Pomodoro Technique is not a hack that can circumvent this biological constraint. If you're trying to cram as many Pomodoro sessions into the workday as possible, you may find yourself more exhausted than usual. You want your Pomodoro sessions to be highly productive, not frazzled; you want to feel like you're in the zone, not rushing to get things done as quickly as possible.

Planning around your meetings

Let's face it. Much of the workday is spent in meetings – in fact, we average 25.6 meetings/week. Considering Pomodoro sessions require your undivided attention towards a single task, the technique is meant for solo work, not so much for meetings. But, with meetings dominating our schedules, it's important to time block your tasks in your calendar to protect time for your Pomodoros. Otherwise, you may join the 78.7% of people who are stressed because they don’t have enough time to get their tasks done. 

Amplify your productivity with Pomodoros 🍅

The Pomodoro Technique is a powerful tool that can help you stay focused and productive throughout the day. By breaking your work into manageable chunks and taking regular breaks, you can avoid burnout and get more done in less time. Whether you're a busy professional, a student, or just someone looking to be more productive, the Pomodoro Technique is definitely worth testing to see if it can help optimize your task routine. 

How do you feel about using the Pomodoro? Anything we missed? Tweet us @reclaimai to get in on the conversation!