“Those who misuse their time are the first to complain about its brevity” Jean de la Bruyère
How many times has it happened to you that you don't have enough time to do all the things you had planned? Have you had many tasks to perform and no matter how much you try to organize your time, you never manage to finish them the way you'd like? Do you spend your time stressing about the time you have to do something, but instead of getting organized, you end up putting everything off until the last minute?
Then you need to learn the “Pomodoro technique”, a quick and effective way to optimize time and efficiency using only 25 minutes per task!
Don't believe us, then please read the following.
“Pomodoro” technique
The “Pomodoro” technique or “tomato” technique by its name in Italian, is a method of organizing time developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, which ensures a decrease in mental fatigue, elimination of distractions and, therefore, an increase in your productivity through the division of tasks into specific chunks of time.
What's it about?
Specifically, the technique is extremely simple: you must divide the time you are going to work into periods of 25 minutes called "pomodoros" – in which you will dedicate yourself completely and without distractions to a single task, then you will rest 5 minutes to then go back to work another 25 minutes, and so on.
Wait, that didn't sound so easy, in simpler words it should be applied like this:
- Choose a task to complete.
- Set a timer for 25 minutes.
- Work without distraction on the chosen task until the 25 minutes are up.
- Take a short five-minute break (this indicates the conclusion of a “pomodoro”).
- Repeat steps 1 through 4.
- After every four pomodoros (100 minutes of work and 15 minutes of rest), take a longer break of 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
The central idea of the technique is that you keep track of how many pomodoros you can complete a day, the main challenge is that you must consider that continuous concentration is a real challenge since you must take into account all the times that you had the impulse to distract yourself or change the task.
What do I need to start using it?
The only items you need are:
- Any kind of stopwatch, either physical or an app on your computer or mobile phone,
- Pencil and paper to record pomodoros completed,
- A place to work where you can protect yourself from unnecessary distractions.
And voilaaaaa, you can start recording your "pomodoros” to fulfill on the day, the week, the month or in the period of time you need.
Why should you use it?
If you’re a person who always leaves the important things for the last minute, and you cannot prioritize between the tasks that are really urgent and those that you can leave for later, this technique is what you require! Since, by dividing the work day into short periods and to-do lists, it will force you to finish important projects without losing track of time or getting distracted by anything.
In addition, this technique prevents excessive mental exhaustion, which is the reason we do not finish things on time and all thanks to the constant rest periods that it manages.
If this isn't enough for you, we saved for last, the greatest benefit that this technique ensures that it can provide us: achieving a balance between personal and work life.
Yes, as you read it, when you start using this technique and become an expert managing your time, you will be able to have an efficient calendar and really enjoy your free time by stopping feeling guilty or stressed for not finishing the tasks you need to do. .
Although this technique only works with jobs in which contact with the computer is the most important or those that do not necessarily depend on constant interaction with other people, the application of this can be carried over to your personal activities from cleaning the house to organize your closet.
Applying this technique does not require great skills or knowledge, only a clock that you can see to control your time, and the most critical thing is the commitment you need to really meet the defined deadlines. If you do, you will notice how time begins to give up more and more and how your concentration will increase as you let go of distractions.
When you feel that time is not enough for you, you just have to remember that time is yours, you decide how to divide it and use it so that it is enough or not. Are you up to using this technique?
Fun fact:
Cirillo, the creator of the technique, used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer, and that is how the name of the method came about.
Article translated by Rodolfo Schaefer
