The Pomodoro technique: the details for better focus

Published on July 9, 2022

The Pomodoro technique is an extremely efficient tool for staying focused and studying or working effectively. It helps you get the most out of a day through strategic breaks. You can summarize it in these steps:

1. Choose a task you can complete within 25 minutes.
2. Do not have one? Break larger tasks into tasks that fit within 25 minutes.
3. Work on that one task for 25 minutes.
4. Take a five-minute break.
5. Repeat this four times, then take a longer break of 15 minutes.
6. Write down all internal and external distractions.

Congratulations, you now know what the Pomodoro technique is! But as with any technique, the details make the real difference.

That is what I explore in this post, so you can go from beginner to Pomodoro guru.

Why the Pomodoro technique?

The Pomodoro technique is extremely efficient and many people swear by it. The ticking kitchen timer and the breaks almost feel like a ritual. But why is it so efficient?

Small deadlines make you focus on results

Parkinson’s law states that the time needed to complete a task expands to fill the time available. Deliberately setting small deadlines uses this law to your advantage, rather than letting it work against you.

The Pomodoro technique also allows for tasks that do not fit into a single pomodoro. You can simply spend another pomodoro on them. There is no reason to see missing this deadline as failure.

The Pomodoro technique is simply a tool to:

• Keep up your momentum.
• Practise breaking up tasks.
• Estimate how much time tasks take.
• Make starting easier.
• Learn to finish something with complete focus.

Prioritizing your daily tasks

Something often overlooked when using the Pomodoro technique is setting daily priorities: which tasks to do first, and which you perhaps should not do at all.

However efficiently you do something, if it does not contribute to your goals, it is wasted effort.

Always keep your end goal in mind!

When studying, for example, you can start with the learning objectives: the knowledge and skills you need. This also lets you depart from the course materials you were given. Sometimes YouTube explains something much more clearly than a boring textbook. Why not use it? Having a clear end goal and prioritizing what you do also helps you approach how you do it more effectively.

This lets you work purposefully with the Pomodoro technique and adjust your efforts in time.

Start a task easily

It can be very difficult to start, especially when studying or writing a thesis.

When breaking tasks into smaller pieces, going one step further can help.

As you plan your day in 25-minute blocks, also write down the smallest step needed to get started.

For example, you want to continue writing your thesis, but you are dreading it. What is the smallest step you can think of to begin?

A first step could be opening Microsoft Word. Anyone can do that! If it still creates too much resistance, put a link to your document in your shortcuts so you can reach it extra quickly. This is particularly useful if you have several projects going at once.

The shorter the startup time, the easier it is to begin something.

Right, Microsoft Word is open. What next? The next step could be as simple as writing a few bullet points. That is manageable too. You can always move them around later to improve the flow of your story.

What small step comes next? Write the first sentence for one bullet point!

We started with a blank page and a strong reluctance to begin, but ended up with a complete structure for your thesis!

That is the power of breaking difficult things into manageable steps. It works even with the biggest goals. Tiny steps in the right direction soon become an unstoppable snowball.

Guidelines for distractions

The Pomodoro technique recognizes that there will always be distractions, both internal and external. The aim is not so much to suppress them, because you cannot prevent every distraction. What you can do is channel and minimize them.

More specific details on that later. As with every technique, start with the basics and build from there.

Pomodoro: the basics

As briefly explained at the start of this article, a pomodoro means working in 25-minute blocks. The beauty of this technique is that you do not need expensive software or a planner. If you want to try it, just a few supplies will do.

What you need

You need a few things:

• A physical or digital timer
  This lets you set a 25-minute timer. It can be an ordinary kitchen timer or a digital tool. I use Toggl. It lets you start a timer very quickly, including through dedicated buttons in Google Docs, for example, and review your time blocks afterwards. Ideally, you can hear it ticking too. That helps you stay focused on your work. The ticking keeps you aware of the deadline.
• A notepad
  You need this to write down to-dos, distractions and irrelevant things you still want out of your head.
• Something to eat and drink
  Having tea, water and a snack nearby prevents you from having to get up to fetch them.

Planning the day

Something the Pomodoro technique does NOT address is whether your activities fit the bigger picture. To make that work, first set a goal and create a rough task list to match. That larger list eventually produces your daily activities or study materials.

The Ivy Lee method can help enormously and combines seamlessly with the Pomodoro technique. Where Pomodoro addresses how to stay focused, Ivy Lee helps more with what to do.

The Pomodoro work schedule

The schedule is not set in stone, but essentially it is:

• Work for 25 minutes and take a five-minute break, four times.
• Take one 15-minute break, a slightly longer break after the fourth 25-minute work session.
• Repeat as often as you can.

If you cannot work for 25 minutes straight, start smaller, even with five minutes of work if necessary. Put a check mark next to each completed pomodoro to celebrate your small success!

The Pomodoro technique and handling distractions

We have already covered the guidelines for handling distractions. Here I want to give you some additional tools, because everything depends on how much focus you can bring to a 25-minute block.

Distractions come in two kinds: internal and external.

Internal distractions are ones you cause yourself. They usually start with a stray thought: what are we eating today? I still need to do something else. I need to call so-and-so back.

External distractions are caused by someone else. A colleague appears at your desk, or someone calls to sell you a new gas and electricity contract.

These things happen and cannot always be avoided, but neither type is desirable: we decided to work on a particular subject for 25 minutes. Fortunately, there are techniques for both kinds, to prevent them and to keep them as small as possible when they do happen.

Internal distractions: thoughts

Your own thoughts are often the hardest distractions to handle. You know how it goes: you suddenly get bored or remember something else you need to do. Before you know it, your attention has wandered from what you wanted to work on.

The Pomodoro technique addresses this by having you write down every distraction, new to-do and even question first. Writing it down reassures you that you will not forget it, making it much easier to let go and continue.

When you reread this list at the end of the day, you can often cross out half of it because it was not relevant.

Physical distractions

Physical distractions can also be handled well, provided you have a plan beforehand. Notice which themes keep coming back. Often hungry halfway through a pomodoro? Keep snacks nearby. Need the toilet frequently? See whether you can go at the end of your breaks. Find it hard to sit still? Get up and take a walk during your breaks.

Handling physical distractions therefore comes down to these techniques:

• Get ahead of the distraction.
• Make sure you can continue working if you get hungry, for example.
• Meet a particular need during the break, as a kind of reward.

External distractions

External distractions come from people or devices. These are often the hardest kind because you cannot always control them. Deeply ingrained patterns, such as smartphone use, often play a part too.

Let us look at the phone first. For most people, it beeps and buzzes with notifications and messages all day. Hardly ideal. A quick solution is to switch it off completely, or simply leave it at home or in another room.

At home, I normally leave my phone charging in the exercise room.

This might feel strange the first few times, but halfway through the pomodoro you realize you have not actually missed it. Almost nothing external is so important that it needs your attention immediately. The best place for your attention and awareness is this moment, with what you are doing. Here and now!

Another external distraction comes from people. A colleague stands at your desk, or you have answered your phone after all. How should you handle this? The trick is to keep the interruption as short as possible. Have a kind of script ready that you can deliver effortlessly.

It need not be complicated. A simple “I am in the middle of something. I need another 20 minutes, then I will come over” can be enough. Another option is: “Can we do this in two minutes? Otherwise, I will get back to you later.”

It is a combination of assessing, deflecting and scheduling.

These two strategies should get you a long way, but as with everything, it comes down to:

1. Practising.
2. Evaluating.
3. Adjusting.

Use your breaks effectively

The purpose of a Pomodoro break is to prevent your supply of focus from emptying too quickly and to replenish it a little.

The best way to do that is to mentally disconnect. This can take different forms. I like a short walk, but you can also get some water or chat with colleagues. Working from home, you can tackle small chores such as starting a load of laundry.

It can even be as simple as watching Instagram reels for five or 15 minutes, or reading something light.

As long as you can start the next block with full focus again.

How do you use the Pomodoro technique?

Learned something new, or have an effective tip that is missing here? Let me and the readers know, so we can learn from each other!