Invented by Francesco Cirillo in 1992, this technique will help you turn that to-do list into lots of tiny, manageable pieces known as pomodoros, or tomatoes. And all you need is a kitchen timer, a pencil, and 3 pieces of paper. Cirillo’s original timer was shaped like a tomato, or pomodoro in Italian. Your timer can be whatever you like; though for reasons you will see in a moment, I suggest that you not use your cell phone.
To begin, create your activity Inventory list. This is a simple list of activities you would like to complete. It should include any activity you need or want to complete, from finishing that paper, to reading for tomorrow’s anthropology class, to doing the laundry. At the end of the day you will check this list, and check off all completed activities.
Next, you will create your To Do Today list. Here select those items from your To-Do Inventory that you need to get done today, and write them down on a separate list, listing each activity in order of priority. This task may include anything from reading an article, to writing a paragraph or page, to outlining that presentation that’s coming up. Your objective, as you go through the day, is to work your way down this list in 25-minute increments. Now, pick up your kitchen timer, set it for twenty-five minutes, the length of one pomodoro, and begin with the first task on this list. When the timer dings, take a three-to-five-minute break. During that break, get up, stretch, get a drink, and give your body and mind a break. Don’t think about whether what you just wrote is good enough, what you’ll have to edit later, whether you should do more research. Clear your mind of everything till it’s time to start the next pomodoro. You have now completed your first tomato/pomodoro. Keep track of each completed pomodoro on your piece of paper, and repeat the process as many times as you are able. After every four pomodoros, take a longer break, fifteen to thirty minutes. Take advantage of this break for slightly longer, though still not overly complex activities. Listen to music. Take a short walk. Go down the hall and chat with a friend or colleague. However you spend that time, make sure that you are truly giving your mind a rest from the activity you were completing during your last pomodoro. You may be surprised at how many pomodoros you can complete.
There are three simple rules to keep in mind: pomodoros are indivisible. There’s no such thing as a slice of tomato here. This leads into rule number two: the pomodoro must ring. Once a pomodoro is begun, you must either complete that pomodoro, or it must be voided and started over. Conversely, rule number three states that just as you must complete a whole pomodoro, you must also stop when the pomodoro rings, even if you are just minutes away from completing that task. Here are a few pointers to help you live by these rules. If you finish an activity before the pomodoro rings, use the remaining time to review the activity you just completed until the timer rings. If activities are not long enough to require a whole pomodoro, then group several related smaller activities together and combine them into one. These could be activities such as sending email, or making phone calls. Lastly, if you are just minutes away from finishing that chapter, you must still get up, take your break, and finish the chapter during the next pomodoro.
Another essential component of Cirillo’s technique is to effectively manage disruptions, as these are often one of the biggest stumbling blocks to productivity. There are two types of disruptions: those that are internal, that come from within us, and those that are external, or created by others. Internal disruptions are particularly problematic, as they are often insidious, and can consume a surprising amount of time. As you work your way through each pomodoro, take note of those sudden internal distractions: the desire to get a glass of water, to email your friend about going for coffee, to take the trash out, or to order tickets for that concert you want to go to next weekend. On a separate sheet of paper, keep a list for unplanned activities. Write down each internal interruption on that list, then leave it, and continue with your pomodoro. You can then handle these new activities in one of three ways: you can include them in the next pomodoro in place of or in combination with other activities, they can be re-scheduled for later during the day, or they can be moved from Pomodoro to Pomodoro if possible till the end of the day. You will probably find that many of those items will not seem nearly as urgent as they did when you first thought of them. In fact, you may find that some of them, such as buying concert tickets, can be best handled by simply scheduling them into another pomodoro.
With the proliferation of the internet and mobile technology, external interruptions have only continued to increase. So before you begin, remove as many of these disruptions as possible. Close your email, and your Facebook page. Turn off your cell phone, and all the connectivity that goes with it. Make sure any family members or roommates know that you are not to be disturbed. But what about your neighbor who stops by to chat? Or the text from your classmate who wants to discuss your upcoming presentation? You have a couple of choices. You can either remove them before beginning your pomodoro, or work out a resolution with the parties involved. The former is often easily accomplished. Simply let phone calls go to voicemail. Close the door to your room or office, or go to a place in the library where others will not know to look for you. And again, close everything else on your computer. But for those interruptions that persist, despite all your precautions, you’ll have to learn to Protect the Pomodoro. Cirillo suggests the acronym INC, Inform the individual that you cannot talk with them, Negotiate—i.e. reschedule the interruption, and then Call back, as agreed during the negotiation phase. Implementing this strategy places control of external interruptions in your hands, by allowing you simply to reschedule them, perhaps including them in a future pomodoro.
The idea here is quite simple. While you may feel overwhelmed with all the work you have to do in a given day or week, if you break that mountain down into smaller pieces, just about anything is manageable. You can do anything for twenty-five minutes, even finish that dreaded paper, or read that book you’ve been putting off. So, though you may in fact work for four hours, your only commitment at any given time is to that pomodoro. And each pomodoro builds on the one before, leading you one step at a time to your final goal.
For many students, it seems that the work of the semester can be all-consuming, leaving little time for anything else. The pomodoro technique can help you not only in accomplishing academic tasks, but it also allows you to organize your time so that you can plan for some of those other things that you either need or want to include in your life. Anything can be assigned a pomodoro. Want to go to the gym?? Want to spend some time on Facebook? Fine. Just include it in your To Do Today list, and assign it to one of your pomodoros for that day. Remember, each pomodoro is a complete unit, whether or not the entire activity is completed. Once you’ve finished one, savor your accomplishment, take your allotted break, and move on to the next pomodoro, whether or not you are continuing with the previous activity. You are then free to meet your next obligation. Put it on your next day’s to-do list, and keep working, one tomato at a time.
For more information about the Pomodoro technique, including Cirillo’s complete manual, see the Pomodoro Technique web-page.
For information about academic and life coaching see Student Success Coaching.
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