The Pomodoro Technique

For me one of the biggest challenges when wanting to start to write is that is has no end.

Finished a comedy routine? You could rewrite it. Or start the next one. Or start your next book. Work on an essay. You can go on writing foreeeeever.

Or have you written a joke? Well… write another. A better one. Write ten more jokes. And after that another hundred you lazy bastard. Also have you tried rewriting your jokes to make them shorter? Just a suggestion…

There is always more writing to be done. So starting to write seems like an impossible task. Especially when you are at the beginning of a new project. You need sixty new funny minutes until next summer? You haven’t written a word yet and every day the task seems even more daunting?

Another big challenge is being interrupted. Either by family, coworkers or your phone. Or more likely you interrupted yourself. Checking TikTok just one more time or maybe making yourself another coffee… What could it hurt, right?

There is one thing that has helped me with all that. Mind you it is only as good as how closely you follow it. And by it I mean the Pomodoro Technique. A time management technique named after a kitchen timer in the shape of a “pomodoro”, which is italian for tomato, and invented by Francesco Cirillo in the eighties.

Five simple steps

The Pomodoro Technique is an easy and in my opinion very effective time management technique that has only five simple steps.

1. Break down your task in 25 minutes morsels and write them down in a list.

2. Set a timer for 25 minutes (25 minute = a Pomodoro) and work without interruption till the timer goes off. Cross out one morsel.

3. Take a five minute break (In which you are allowed to check your phone, make coffee, etc.)

4. Repeat steps two till three another three times.

5. After four Pomodoros take a longer break of about 15-20 minutes.

The advantages of doing things like that are as follows: Working in Pomodoros lowers your reluctance to start a big workload cause it naturally breaks it down into doable tasks.

I mean you have worked 25 minutes in a row, haven’t you? So I’m sure you can do it again.

It also helps you to stay focused by allowing you to look at your phone every 25 minutes. You’re next dopamine hit is only ever 25 mintues away. (And if 25 minutes is too long just change it to fit your needs.)

Crossing out your Pomodoro Units helps you visualize your progress which in turns motivates you to keep doing the work. The only thing I would add to the Pomodoro Technique is celebrating yourself Tiny Habits Style at the start and the end of every Pomodoro.

Because remember: We only change by feeling good! And it feels damn good to have worked uninterrupted for a whole 25 minutes.