As more people around the world find themselves working from home, one of the most common difficulties workers are encountering is how to structure and manage their time productively. Many individuals trying to juggle work, home schooling, housekeeping and more are finding it easy to procrastinate or are becoming overwhelmed. The Pomodoro Technique offers a simple method to organize the work and school day and to stay disciplined.
Developed in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, the Pomodoro Technique takes a minute to learn and can be used to accomplish just about any task. Simply put, tasks, or pomodoros, are assigned to 25-minute work intervals separated by short three- to five-minute breaks. After four intervals, a longer 15- to 25-minute break begins.
The technique aims to increase productivity, remove distractions and reduce procrastination. When a task is completed before the interval elapses, the extra time can be used for short housekeeping or paperwork tasks, to review the completed task, or to plan for future tasks.
Cirillo named the technique "pomodoro," Italian for tomato, after the tomato kitchen timer he used in college. You can use any kind of timer and paper and pencil to keep track of the number of intervals, but there are also several free and paid apps and programs geared towards the Pomodoro Technique.
Especially during this time of quarantine and isolation, when most of us are trying to balance working from home, home schooling, meals and housework, the Pomodoro Technique could be extremely useful in developing a schedule and structure for individuals, couples and families alike. A pomodoro schedule can include pomodoros related to work, school, housekeeping and cooking. Most people aim for seven to ten pomodoros a day.
You can change and adapt the technique to fit almost any type of work or task. Pomodoro interval times can be changed from 25 minutes to whatever makes sense for the individual, nature of the task and other particularities. The same goes for break times and number of comodoros in a day.
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