Become a Straight A Student using Tomatoes!
We’re into February and for most of us the new year resolutions have long since failed and we’re back to our default setting with studying and work, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ll show you how to revolutionize how you manage your time and it begins with the most unlikely commodity. . .The humble tomato.
What is it?
It’s incredibly easy to be distracted, when doing a task, be it studying, planning, assessing whatever it may be. It adds unnecessary time to the task and often the task only gets completed due to the pressure of a looming deadline, this can often mean you don’t produce your best work. We end up spending more time on a particular task than we needed to. Most of us regularly complain about not having enough time so what can we do to remedy the situation?
Enter the Pomodoro technique, an easy and in principal free method you can use to stay on track to not only help you produce higher quality work or better revision, but in the long term actually save you time to spend on other more important things. It’s a staple technique that I use in my day to day working and life, and it can be molded around what you do and what you need to get done. It was developed in the late 80s by Francesco Cirillo, and based on his tomato shaped kitchen timer (pomodoro is Italian for tomato.)
How does it work?
The basic principle is that you work in short bursts and have regular breaks.
- You set up a timer for 25 minutes, have no access to anything else like your phone, social media or any other distractions and concentrate on one thing, investing all of your energy into it.
- You then take a 5 min break, and then reset the timer and go again. Every 3-4 Pomodoros you take a longer break 15-30 mins and the process starts again. You are free to play around with the time intervals but the 25:5 method for most people works very well.
Screenshot whilst on a pomodoro.
You get more done by focusing all your attention on one thing during the pomodoro and simultaneously avoid mental fatigue by having regular breaks after only 25 minutes of work.
What’s also great about the technique is that it can be used in other spheres of your life for example whilst exercising, editing, or even brainstorming, the possibilities are endless.It’s long enough, to get a significant amount done, but short enough that you don’t feel like you’re spending too much time doing something.
You take a short 5 minute break after the pomodoro is complete.
The great thing about the technique and why it’s so successful is that it takes the emphasis away from your willpower (which can be a finite resource), a pomodoro timer once started should not be interrupted, you have to complete the pomodoro for it to count if it is not completed you have to ‘squash’ a tomato again.
The technique also has hidden benefits like increasing your attention span, I often can be restricted by the 25 minutes, so I use it to prime myself for the working day to get myself going and once I hit my stride it’s easier to work for hours on something I am deeply immersed in. What’s more is that the more you use the technique the easier it will be to get into this “flow state”, as you’re conditioning yourself to focus more quickly and for longer.
It can also reduce anxiety about getting work done as after you’ve done it for a while you start to be able to make accurate estimates on how long tasks take to complete, which allows you to plan your time, study sessions etc a lot better, in the long term this saves you time because you can quantitatively see how long you can afford to allocate to a specific task.
Pomodoros also take the sting out of the mundane tasks, for example, you’ve just finished that essay, last thing you want to do is go through it looking for errors, but if you assign as many pomodoros as you need to it becomes more likely you will pick up more errors, rather than spending an hour straight doing the same thing, 25 minutes psychologically is a lot more bearable than an hour.
It’s not necessarily for everybody, some of the criticisms leveled at the technique include:
“you feel discouraged if you can’t complete a Pomodoro you won’t start one”
and
“really focused people don’t need it.”
To me these particular objections are neither here nor there, the very fact it doesn’t count unless you complete the pomodoro I feel is a necessary buffer that keeps you accountable, and great if you don’t need it to work effectively but there will be a mundane task that you don’t particularly enjoy that the technique will come in handy for. It’s a really nice weapon to have in your arsenal.
Adapting it for you
The great thing about the technique is that you can use it for absolutely anything,
I tend now to divide my days into pomodoros so say if I’m feeling extra productive and I set out 8-10 pomodoros to do in a day, I’ll assign a specific number of pomodoros to each task. What I tend to find is that if I’ve completed a handful of pomodoros before lunch, I’m extra motivated to complete the remainder of my list. I’ll even assign pomodoros speculatively to tasks I don’t know how long will take, and amend it during the day as I see fit. This is especially useful If you do not want to spend too much time on something or you’re trying something new. I also use the technique to plan the next day, and even exercise .
An example of how I have adapted the technique for my own day to day use (T= Tomato).
An example of how I have adapted the technique for my own day to day use.
A pomodoro is a top idea, when you’re stuck, for example, In studying if there is a maths question you don’t quite understand, instead of sitting there staring blankly at the page for hours give it a pomodoro, just 25 minutes maybe two, and if you still don’t understand it, it would be a good idea to seek help.
A good way to start is small try it with just one pomodoro and see how it goes, it can take a little getting used to so give it a few good tries and don’t give up.
It isn’t set in stone, and there will ultimately be times you need to cut your pomodoro short for whatever reason, but this is where the beauty lies because it’s artificial pressure (created by yourself) rather than someone else’s deadline, so it’s not the end of the world.
The pomodoro for me has changed how I work drastically, along with planning the work I have to do. I would say it is the single most effective technique I use to get my work done, which has to be divided across running a business, studying, ministry, consultancy and creative orientated projects. I cannot stress enough how simple and effective it is.
Further Reading
If you would like to learn more about the technique you can visit the official pomodoro website here. Where there are more articles and you can find more creative uses for the technique or even purchase the book and buy and your very own kitchen timer.
If you would prefer something desktop, or mobile based there are many web-based and mobile applications out there, type in pomodoro technique or pomodoro timer into App Store or Google play there are also many extensions you can use.
I personally use mytomatoes.com , whilst working throughout the day, as I can visually keep track of what I get done in a day and compare it to other days.
Let us know you’re experiences with the technique in the comments selection below, what other techniques do you use that are effective?
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