The Pomodoro Technique: How It Can Help You Achieve Focus in a Distracted World

At 8:05 a.m., you're at your desk, ready to plan your new project. But then an email notification pops up, and you spend a few minutes clearing your inbox. By the time you reach inbox zero, it's 9:23 a.m. You're determined to dive into deep work now (no more distractions 😤), but just a few minutes in, you decide to grab a coffee and take a quick social media break. Before you know it, it's already 1:30 p.m., and you've made no progress on your project plan.

It's a familiar story—we often start our days with the best intentions, only to get sidetracked by everything but the tasks that matter most.

Enter the Pomodoro Technique: a simple yet effective strategy to combat distractions, boost focus, and improve productivity.

In this guide, we'll show you how to harness the power of the Pomodoro Technique to protect your time and elevate your work game.

What is the Pomodoro Technique?

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management strategy that involves breaking down work into intervals, typically 25 minutes long, separated by 5-minute breaks.

At its core, the technique is a form of timeboxing. It safeguards your time by eliminating distractions and encouraging you to concentrate on tasks for fixed intervals.

The Pomodoro Technique gets its unique name from the Italian word for tomato 🍅, as its creator, Francesco Cirillo, initially used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer to monitor his work intervals.

Cirrilo didn't always have a harmonious relationship with time. As a student, he struggled with maintaining focus during study sessions. In his book, The Pomodoro Technique, Cirrillo recounts the day he stumbled upon the technique by challenging himself to study distraction-free for just 10 minutes. He set his quirky tomato-shaped kitchen timer to ring after 10 minutes, and to his amazement, he could concentrate and study until the timer went off. This experiment paved the way for the now-renowned Pomodoro Technique.

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Suggested read

If you'd like to take a deep dive into this time management method, we recommend reading Francesco Cirillo's The Pomodoro Technique.

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Why does the Pomodoro Technique work?

The Pomodoro Technique's effectiveness lies in its ability to promote unitasking, sharpen focus, and foster deep work—ultimately enhancing productivity and overall work quality.

1. It improves focus and supports deep work: Each time we stop a task to do something else (speak to a colleague, check emails, etc., ) it takes us nine and a half minutes to re-engage with the task, and we tend to carry ideas from the previous task into the next one. The Pomodoro Technique minimizes interruptions, allowing hours of intense focus and deep work. This state of flow enables better problem-solving and idea generation. Dedicating time solely to one task eliminates distractions that prolong completion time.
2. It eliminates multitasking: Multitasking was once seen as a superpower, but recent studies show it does more harm than good. Neuropsychologist Cynthia Kubu says that multitasking reduces our ability to focus and learn. "If we're constantly attempting to multitask, we don't practice tuning out the rest of the word to engage in deeper processing and learning," explains Kubu. The Pomodoro Technique promotes focusing on one task at a time, strengthening the brain's ability to process information.
3. It manages distractions: Distractions abound in our daily lives. It's not that we don't know they are wrong, but we are often ill-equipped to handle them. The Pomodoro Technique provides simple and effective ways to deal with internal and external distractions, ensuring you stay focused and productive.
4. It encourages breaks: Mental fatigue is common after intense mental work. Breaks are essential for allowing our unconscious minds to process information and preventing the health risks associated with prolonged sitting.
5. It avoids the planning fallacy: We often believe we have a good idea of how long it will take to complete a task. However, due to a phenomenon known as the planning fallacy, we tend to underestimate the time needed to finish a task. By using the technique, you better plan your time and understand your capacity.
6. It defeats procrastination: Breaking down work into bite-sized chunks clarifies what needs to be done and how long it should take. For instance, if your team member needs to write an article, they might feel overwhelmed by the entire task and keep procrastinating. However, breaking it down into smaller chunks, such as a 25-minute Pomodoro for research, 2-3 Pomodoros for outlining, and five more for drafting, can boost their confidence in tackling the task. The time-boxed intervals also provide a sense of urgency, which might be just the push needed to make significant progress.

What steps are involved in the Pomodoro Technique?

The Pomodoro Technique is an easy-to-follow, five-step method:

1. Organize your tasks with a to-do list app or on paper for clear direction.
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes, and dedicate your full attention to the task until the timer rings.
3. Reward yourself with a quick five-minute break to recharge.
4. Keep repeating the process until your task is complete.
5. After finishing a set of four Pomodoros, take a more extended 20-30 minute break to refresh and refuel.

Rules of the Pomodoro process

Adhering to the Pomodoro Technique involves following a set of specific rules to maximize its effectiveness:

✅ Pomodoros must not be interrupted. If interrupted, the Pomodoro is considered void.

✅ Pomodoros are indivisible, meaning you can't stop midway. Cirillo says, "A Pomodoro's atomic unit is a Pomodoro itself."  

✅ You are not to continue working after a Pomodoro is complete.

✅ If you finish before the timer runs out, use the remaining time to review your work.

Though the Pomodoro Technique is somewhat rigid in its traditional form, it's crucial to remember that time management strategies should be flexible and adaptable to your work style.

Once you understand the principles behind the rules, such as managing distractions, staying focused, and working in productive sprints and rhythms, you can modify the technique to fit your needs better. For example, you could adjust the work and rest intervals to suit your preferences better, such as working for 45 minutes and taking a 15-minute break instead of the standard 25-minute work period.

Here's how Float's Head of Operations, Georgie Roberts, has modified the Pomodoro Technique to suit her work style:

How to use the Pomodoro Technique in Float

The Pomodoro Technique is designed to help you improve your habits over time. To do so, you must first understand your current work habits.

Start each day with a well-defined plan of the tasks you need to tackle before diving into your Pomodoros. Though it may seem obvious, it's crucial to avoid arriving at your desk without a clear idea of how to allocate your time.

Asking yourself these questions will help you prioritize tasks effectively and utilize the Pomodoro Technique efficiently:

1. What are the high-impact tasks that need intense focus? Identify tasks that significantly impact your project, team, or organization. Focusing on high-impact tasks first ensures that the most crucial aspects of your work are accomplished efficiently.
2. What tasks need to be broken down? Some tasks can be overwhelming or complex, making it difficult to tackle them in one go. Breaking these tasks into smaller, more manageable parts can help you maintain focus and stay productive.

If your project management tool is integrated with Float, your tasks will automatically show up on your schedule in Float.

As you work on a task, note how many Pomodoros it takes to finish it. After completing, log the time in Float. Also, be sure to note any interruptions that occurred during each Pomodoro.  

Next, analyze the time spent on each task and determine the number of Pomodoros needed for completion. For instance, if it takes 10 Pomodoros to create a project budget, use this information for accurate estimations. This helps you plan your capacity effectively and avoid taking on excessive work.

You can visualize your progress using Float's reporting features, which can help you see trends in your productivity over time.

How to handle distractions during Pomodoros

Distractions are often the biggest enemy of a successful Pomodoro.

We often have to deal with two types: internal and external.

Internal distractions

Internal distractions can be thoughts like "I need more coffee," "I should send that email now," or "Just a quick scroll through LinkedIn, then back to work."

When a distracting thought comes, acknowledge it, record it, and continue. For example, if you remember you need to send an email to a project sponsor, pause and consider if it's necessary to send it immediately. If it can wait, add it to your to-do list and continue working.

Some other strategies to minimize internal distractions include:

• Turning notifications off and putting your phone away
• Playing music to block out background noise
• Keeping all necessary supplies within arm's reach
• Using apps to prevent wandering off-task
• Clearing your desk of any distracting items

External distractions

Dealing with internal distractions is just the beginning. You also need to handle demands from other people or unexpected situations that arise during the workday.

Cirillo recommends the communicate, negotiate, and call back strategy. If a colleague approaches you with a question, explain that you're currently working (e.g., "I'm in the middle of a Pomodoro"), negotiate a later time to address their concern, and call them back later.

In an ideal world, you'd easily handle distractions, but what happens when a superior consistently interrupts tasks, or you work somewhere where distractions are the norm?

Sometimes you can't avoid interruptions. When returning to a task, you might feel anxious, make mistakes, or miss small details. Researchers Sophie Leroy and Theresa M. Glomb recommend having a ready-to-resume plan to avoid the adverse effects of time pressure. The plan involves "taking stock of where one stands on an interrupted task and briefly planning one's return." This simple step can make it easier for your brain to pick up from where it left off.

Here's how Georgie deals with external distractions during her workday:

Alternatives to the Pomodoro Technique

While the Pomodoro Technique is effective, it has some disadvantages.

For one, it can disrupt flow. If you are working on a task like writing or coding and the timer goes off, it can feel frustrating and difficult to regain momentum.

Also, not all tasks fit into 25 minutes (e.g., meetings), making it hard to assign them to a Pomodoro.

Additionally, the pressure to complete the task before the timer goes off can demotivate some people, as not everyone works well under pressure.

Lastly, the Pomodoro Technique, in its purest form, is relatively rigid. Rules such as the invisibility of the Pomodoro make the system hard to keep to and make it difficult to practice.

If you try the Pomodoro system and it doesn't work for you, consider variations of the technique, such as:

1. 52/17

This variation suggests 52 minutes of work followed by a 17-minute break is the best time combination. It was based on a study by Desktime, where they found that the most productive people worked for 52 minutes, followed by 17 minutes of break. They've since released a report suggesting an even more extended period.  

2. Flow time

Former Pomodoro user Zoë Read-Bivens created this variation. She wanted a more flexible system because of the constant interruptions during her flow state. This system lets you study your flow state and note how long it lasts; once you have the figures, you can start estimating tasks.

3. Timeboxing

All the variations above are just timeboxing with different lengths of timeboxes. This technique lets you determine how long you work. You can set hard or soft timeboxes in which you must focus and complete your tasks.

Taking the first step with the Pomodoro Technique

If you find it challenging to stick to the Pomodoro Technique at first, don't be discouraged. Adopting the Pomodoro Technique involves significant changes in our behaviors around work and time management, and building new habits takes time.

Start slowly by incorporating just one or two Pomodoros into your day, and gradually build up to longer intervals as you become more comfortable.

Adopting the Pomodoro Technique is a journey, not a destination. By taking it one step at a time and consistently applying the technique, you'll experience its positive impact on your work, productivity, and overall well-being.

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