To be perfectly honest, I’ve been feeling bleurgh and painfully unproductive lately. I haven’t been as consistent with my morning routine as I intended, and I have been feeling unusually tired and drained. And I have had enough of my slacking off. I’ve become tired of being tired. (Is that a thing?!).
Anyhoo, it’s time to re-commit to my long-term goals. Well, just in time for a midyear reset.
In this post:
If you’re looking for a sign that you should work right now, this is it!
In case you’re in the same boat as I am, here’s me encouraging you to fight back and deal with procrastination. So I thought of sharing this tool with you.
Pomodoro Technique
Created in the 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, the Pomodoro Technique is one of the more popular time management systems used today. It uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Each interval is known as a pomodoro, which translates to tomato, after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used as a university student.
There are a lot of apps available now that provide timers and instructions. I personally use the Goodtime app for its simple and minimalist style.
How to Use the Pomodoro Technique
Traditionally, Pomodoro technique is in the 25-5 format, meaning 25 minutes of work followed by a 5-minute break. Personally, I prefer longer work times, so I use the 50-10 format. Here are the steps to using this technique:
- Choose your task and total time to work on it.
- Set a timer to 50 minutes.
- Work on the task for 50 minutes.
- Take a 10-minute break for energy renewal and then start another Pomodoro.
- Take a longer 20- to 30-minute break after completing two to three Pomodoros.
Get productive with me
If you’re like me who is getting frustrated with yourself for procrastinating too much, here’s my invitation (and challenge!) to get productive with me.
This video is in the 50-10 format of Pomodoro, meaning that we will be working/studying for 50 minutes then resting for 10 minutes. This video covers one session (1 hour).
There’s a bell sound at the end of the 50-min work session. Feel free to replay to complete as many cycles as you need to get things done.
As for me, I usually do 1 or 2 hours in the morning before I have my breakfast at 10AM and then 2 or 3 cycles in the afternoon.
I found the 50-10 Pomodoro format more effective for me than the usual 25-min work and 5-min break.
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