The Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980’s as a way to eliminate procrastination, enhance focus, maintain a high level of energy, and ultimately get more done during the day. It takes a little practice to get used to the method (as with any worthwhile change in life, there are “growing pains”), but the effort is worth it. Personally, I’ve been using it for several months now and the results have been incredible.

Let’s dig into the Pomodoro Technique now in greater detail and uncover how to apply this amazing system to your situation.

How Does Pomodoro Work?

Instead of working against the clock, Pomodoro works with a clock, using time as an ally. The basic gist is to write down tasks that need to be done each day, estimate the amount of time needed to complete each task, and then execute your tasks during focused increments of time. During increment of time, you want to work on a single task and nothing else. The purpose of this is to reduce distractions and complete each task fully before moving onto the next. You could say that Pomodoro is the opposite of multitasking – rather than working on multiple tasks at once, it advocates working on a single task with complete focus until it’s complete.

The key to Cirillo’s process is the breaking of each task down into small time increments that can be managed and accomplished easily. At first, deciding how much time a task will actually take can be daunting (it’s natural to underestimate or overestimate how long a task will actually take), but with practice it becomes easier, and estimates become more accurate.

What Do You Need?

1) A few pieces of paper to chart your progress (we’ll explain this in more detail shortly).

2) A timer with an alarm or bell that will go off at the end of the time period you have set for a task.

It’s preferable to use a timer rather than a wall clock. Ideally something that is audible and can be set to specific increments for at least one hour. A kitchen cooking timer is a great device to use (Cirillo sells a Pomodoro timer specifically for this method).

Other than those few supplies, all you need is a step-by-step outline of what to do each day.

Productivity Sheets

There are three charts (or sheets) you will need: The Activity Inventory sheet, the To Do Today sheet, and the Records sheet.

The Activity Inventory sheet is a broad list of things that you want to accomplish. This could be a weekly or monthly list.

The To Do Today sheet should be derived directly from your Activity Inventory sheet. Think of it as a breakdown of one or more of the larger items on your Activity Inventory. This list should include the items that you want to complete on a given day.

The Records sheet is much like a personal journal. It should also be filled out daily as a record of your experience during the day using the Pomodoro Technique. It should include the date, the tasks upon which you worked, the number of work sessions it took to complete each task (we’ll talk more about those in a moment), and also any interruptions that occurred.

Pomodoro in Action

Working on a task for large chunks of time tends to wear out the mind and body. As the day progresses, it becomes harder to stay focused and productivity slows down as a result. This is the problem Cirillo set out to solve.

Through careful study, he found that he was able to stay focused and accomplish his tasks with better results if he concentrated on a task in 25 minute increments with no distractions, followed by a 3 to 5 minute break. This is one Pomodoro session. He found that repeating this four times followed by a longer break yielded the best results. Through this practice, he discovered that he was able to sustain a high level of energy and focus throughout the day.

Here’s a breakdown of what the time increments and the daily plan of action look like:

25 minutes of work on task

3-5 minute break

25 minutes of work on task

3-5 minute break

25 minutes of work on task

3-5 minute break

25 minutes of work on task

15-30 minute break

Then the cycle repeats itself. Each 25 minutes of work is considered one (1) Pomodoro.

Let’s look at an example. Let’s say you want to build a website. You first want to place this item on your Activity Inventory sheet because it’s a broad objective that will take many small steps to accomplish:

Next, you want to break this item down into smaller items and place those on your To Do Today sheet.

(Note: you might have multiple To Do Today sheets for one item on your Activity Inventory. For example, if building a website will take 5 days, then you’ll want to fill out a new To Do Today sheet each day for five days until the website is complete).

Let’s say that you plan to build your website in a day. In that case, your To Do Today list might include:

- Create graphics
- Write three articles
- Launch website to the Internet

Start by listing those three items on your To Do Today sheet and place your estimated completion time to the left of each task. It’s a good idea to assume you’ll be working an 8 hour day and plan accordingly. There can be a tendency to put too many items on your To Do Today sheet and feel at the end of the day that very little was accomplished. It’s best to assume you have 8 hours and no more.

Here is what your To-Do Today sheet might look like:

Since “create graphics” is at the top of your To Do Today list, you would begin your day with that task. Set the Pomodoro timer for 25 minutes, and begin!

Tracking Productivity

It’s important to keep detailed tabs on your progress and productivity. Cirillo created four notations to help us better gauge productivity. They include:

1. A straight line (—–) to mark tasks as completed.

2. An X to indicate the number of Pomodoros spent on the task.

3. An apostrophe (‘) to indicate internal interruptions. Internal interruptions can be attributed to a break in your attention that is not due to some outside influence. Perhaps you decided to check email, get up and get a drink of water, or just sit and think about something other than working. Internal interruptions are almost always within your control.

4. A dash (-) to indicate external interruptions, which include external events that disrupt your attention, such as a phone ringing or a surprise visitor at your door. External distractions may or may not be within your control.

The purpose of recording distractions is to shine a light on where and when your attention is dissipating during the day. Once you’ve isolated the handful of things that distract you the most, you can begin one by one to eliminate them from your workday, thereby increasing your productivity by leaps and bounds.

Here’s our To Do Today sheet at the end of the workday:

Let’s interpret the To Do Today sheet above.

Our first task for the day was to create graphics for our website. We estimated 1 hour to complete this task (as indicated to the left of the item). You can see that to the right are three X’s, indicating that it took three Pomodoro’s (25 minute sessions) to complete the task. The X’s should be jotted down after each Pomodoro. Once the task is finished, it should be crossed off, as shown in the example above.

Moving to item two: “Write 3 Articles.” You can see here that the first two Pomodoro’s were completed with no interruptions; however, between Pomodoro two and three is an apostrophe, which indicates an internal distraction occurred sometime before the third Pomodoro.

Again, it’s important to jot these events down as they occur. Do not way until the end of the day to do it, when you’re more likely to forget exactly what happened.

Let’s look now at the third task of the day: “Launch Website to the Internet.” You’ll see an X, followed by a dash, followed by an X, then an apostrophe, two more X’s, and finally a dash. We can translate this as: Pomodoro, external distraction, Pomodoro, internal distraction, Pomodoro, Pomodoro, and finally external distraction.

I’m sure you’re beginning to see the value of tracking productivity and interruptions in this manner. At the very least, it reveals information about how you’re spending your time, which may prove to be different from current notions you about the level of your productivity.

I know that when I began applying the Pomodoro Technique myself, I was shocked to find out just how distracted I really was. I had always thought of myself as a very productive person, but I quickly began to see that there was a lot of improvement to be made! It was a rude awakening, but I’m very thankful for it.

To shed more light on our personal productivity habits, we want to use the Records sheet, which is a more detailed log (a sort of journal) of both productive and unproductive activities. Let’s take a look at all three sheets together:

The more detail you provide, the greater number of poor personal productivity habits you can pinpoint and cleanup. For instance, I can see from my Records sheet that creating graphics took 75 minutes overall and there were no distractions. I can also see I checked my email twice throughout the day: once during my second task, and a second time during my third task. Looking at my To Do Today list, I can see that both of these distractions occurred during the third 25 minute work increment. I also had a few outside distractions, the first of which was probably unavoidable, while the second probably was avoidable (a phone call that was not necessary).

It’s also helpful to indicate why distractions occurred. You can indicate this on your Records sheet. Why did I check my email? Did I just drift away from the task I was working on? Did I feel the need to see if I had orders for my new eBook? Did I just get bored with writing articles? Asking ‘why’ will enable you to learn more about yourself, which is one of the key aspects of getting the most out of the Pomodoro Technique. The next time you feel yourself “drifting away” into a distraction, you will be much more likely to catch yourself.

In closing, here are a few key tips to help you get the most out of the Pomodoro Technique:

1) When the timer goes off, be sure to stop what you’re doing and take the required 3-5 minute break.

2) When you take a break, don’t think about work or the previous or next task. Do something completely unrelated to work. Watch TV, stretch, or grab a cup of coffee. Turn your mind and your actions away from work.

3) During a 25 minute work interval, work on one task at a time.

4) Evaluate each day to pinpoint the personal tendencies that lead to wasting time. This will enable you to eliminate those tendencies and increase your productivity.

4) Eliminate as many potential distractions as possible before beginning a 25 minute work interval (turn off your cell phone, close down email, etc.)

5) Try not to plan more than 8 hours of work in a given day. This will leave room for unexpected items that crop up.

6) Download the full Pomodoro free 45-page ebook to flush out the entire process in more detail!

Lastly – recharge your energy by finding time to do activities that you enjoy. It’s a common notion that the best way to recharge your batteries is to simply relax and take it easy, but this isn’t always the case. It’s important to recharge not only the body, but also the mind and the mind is often refreshed through doing enjoyable activities that don’t require a lot of left-brain work. This why instead just sitting or lying down, it’s often better to do an activity that you enjoy that has nothing to do with work, such as playing a game of tennis, going to the beach with family or friends, or just taking a walk.

I hope the information in this post helps you to create a more productive, less stressful workday. I can speak from personal experience regarding the positive effects the Pomodoro Technique has had on my schedule. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of Pomodoro was just getting started with it in the first place. It’s not easy to implement a new time management system. It requires the breaking of old habits and the development of new ones, which can be a big challenge. The key though is perseverance, and just continuing to do it every day until it becomes an automatic part of your routine. I’ve found that the payoff for making these changes is huge, so I hope you take the leap and give Pomodoro a try!