I Tried The 'Pomodoro Technique' To Get Over My Work Slump – I've Never Been More Focused

Mechanical red tomato kitchen timer set to 30 minutesMaybe it’s the heatwave, maybe it’s my terrible summer sleeping pattern – recently, I’ve been struggling to focus on pretty much anything. The 3pm slump has been worse than usual. Email lines blur into grey smudges: I sit down to write and end up toggling from tab to tab like an unenthusiastic chimp swinging onto unrelated, unproductive lianas. In other words, I’ve been in real need of a better way to stay “switched on” during the day in the past couple of weeks or so. Enter: the Pomodoro technique, invented by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. How does the “Pomodoro technique” work?The method, which originally relied on a kitchen timer (I use my phone) is meant to break work into 25-minute segments.After that, you take a break, or “pomodoro.” The word, which is Italian for “tomato,” is a reference to the tomato-shaped kitchen timer Cirillo used to use to stick to the method. “I was a student... in 1987 and I had to take the sociology exam in September,” the inventor wrote.“I couldn’t keep my mind focused on my book. I was constantly getting distracted. I made a humble bet with myself: ‘Can you stay focused for two minutes without distraction?’” Grabbing the timer, he was surprised to find that the two minutes passed more easily when he knew it had an end.He pushed the segments further and further, but “didn’t take too long to realise that, for a number of factors, the ideal unit of work was 25 minutes followed by a 2-5 minute break.” Taking a "pomodoro" break on the left: back at it on the rightI’ve never been more focused during what would usually be slumpsBefore discovering the method, I relied on a more crude method of self-management: I kept typing furiously until either I was halfway through my article list for the day or it hit 12:30pm (whichever happened first). But afternoon burnouts saw me reconsider. A week before I adopted the Pomodoro technique, I would take a two-minute break after finishing each article. For some reason, though, I have found the Pomodoro technique better. According to a 2023 paper, I’m not alone – researchers found that students were more focused and efficient when they stuck to pre-determined breaks than they were when forced to follow an inflexible, time-based schedule. Like me, they even saw increased mood benefits. I find that sticking to the technique gives me “permission” to take a couple of minutes’ rest, which I would otherwise struggle to give myself during a morning flurry. Some research says that you can adapt the time slots according to your preferred rhythm – a 30-minute break followed by a 10-minute one might work instead, they write. But choosing a predetermined time slot over your own “natural” slumps seems key.Having stuck to the 25 minutes on, two minutes off bracket myself, I’ve certainly noticed increased focus, especially in the dreaded afternoon hours.Related...Suddenly Have More Responsibility At Work? It Might Be A Career Red Flag5 Foods To Avoid If You Want To Improve Your Focus And ConcentrationI Swapped 10,000 Steps A Day For 30 Minutes Of 'Japanese Walking' – I've Never Been More Active

Comments

Breaking news

I’m disabled and Rachel Reeves is my MP – she should tax billionaires, not cut Pip

Metro

Starmer has no energy, vision or strategy for Britain on the world stage. He offers only weakness, decline and a disregard for the sovereignty of this nation: NILE GARDINER

about 3 hours ago

Dailymail

How profit hungry firms could affect the care you're given by doctors and chemists: JOHN NAISH

about 3 hours ago

Dailymail

Secrets of Britain's biggest Wetherspoons. It can fit 1,400 people and has 100 beers on tap. Now HARRY WALLOP exposes exactly what goes on... and why they constantly need to change the carpet

about 3 hours ago

Dailymail

How weight-loss jabs like Mounjaro and Ozempic can destroy your pancreas. First the flesh dies... then your organs fail. As they're linked to ten deaths, doctors' urgent warning revealed

about 3 hours ago

Dailymail

Hidden breast cancer risk factor that means you're SIX times more likely to get it. Other countries warn women... no wonder doctors now say: 'Patients have a right to know. Too many have died'

about 3 hours ago

DAN HODGES: The most cack-handed, incompetent welfare Bill in living memory

Dailymail

Yes, Anna Wintour could be brutal. But like me she'll surely feel a deep sense of loss to walk away from the cashmere nest that is the editor's chair at Vogue: ALEXANDRA SHULMAN

about 3 hours ago

An ancient village in the Himalayas ran out of water. Then, it moved and started over

Independent

Comments

Breaking news

I’m disabled and Rachel Reeves is my MP – she should tax billionaires, not cut Pip

It's 2025 And Things Are Getting Worse, Not Better, For Mums At Work

Husband of Suzanne Morphew to appear in court to face murder charge a second time

Jury returns to deliberate for a second day at Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial

A look at AP's top photos in June

TSA sees historic surge in airline travel with six daily records already reached this year

China sanctions former Filipino lawmaker over South China Sea claims

Asian shares are mostly higher, tracking US rally into record heights

Philadelphia city workers strike after contract talks fail

Bryan Kohberger to plead guilty to murder in Idaho student stabbings to avoid death penalty

Death toll rises to 36 following an explosion and fire at a southern India pharmaceutical factory

Federal officials claim to have cracked the biggest health care fraud schemes in history

Killer whales found sharing food with humans for first time in groundbreaking study

Elon Musk steps up attacks on Trump once again - as the president fights back

Exact date 'cold front' will replace 35C heatwave as UK weather maps turn blue

Today's horoscope for July 1 as Aries re-thinks some big plans

Hurricane Flossie: Urgent warning 75mph cyclone to batter Mexico within days

Mum's harrowing warning about key symptom of daughter's 'silent killer' disease

Nissan to cut 250 jobs at major UK car plant as electric vehicle sales flop

World's deepest tunnel costing £1.7bn will take 35 minutes to cross

'My daughter's prom dress is tacky and embarrassing but she won't listen'

How haggling on car insurance lands you £200 off your renewal quote

Turkey arrests journalists over alleged cartoon of Prophet Muhammad

US-Israeli backed Gaza aid group must be shut down, say 130 charities

Hundreds of kids to be tested for disease in Australia after childcare rape charge

MPs to vote on welfare bill as unrest rumbles on

BP, Once a Hunter in the Oil Industry, Is Now Prey. What Went Wrong?

How the Hottest Place in India Survives

Can Canada Offset Trump Tariff War by Trading More Domestically?

Jury deliberates for 2nd day in the triple murder trial of Australian accused of mushroom poisonings

1 dead, 2 injured in Philadelphia explosion that damaged several homes

US dollar suffers worst start to year in more than five decades, report claims

Ukraine-Russia war live: Moscow claims first whole Ukrainian region after over three years of Putin’s war

The attar of the deal: Now you can smell like Trump as president hawks perfume

Transform your tiny garden into a lush haven with these creative tips

TSA sees historic surge in airline travel with six daily records already reached this year

Backlash from campaigners has forced welcome rethink on PIP plans

Model mum who launched first ever festival for single parents takes 'special community' nationwide

Scot selling huge sports memorabilia collection he spent 30 years building

Parents of Scots teen who died at university call for action on 'prank spiking'

Scots fear crime is rising in their local area as SNP Government accused of 'hollowing out' police

Edinburgh council firm boss given £22,343 bonus as locals hit with tax rise

Ex-Rangers security man says club "shocked" as former Union Bears capo becomes gangland kingpin

Girl falls overboard on Disney cruise ship - with father jumping in after her

Only those with eagle-eyed vision can spot cat in image of woman sweeping

Hurdler offered modelling deals after winning race despite penis falling out of his shorts

Molotov terror attack on Israel solidarity walkers leaves Holocaust survivor, 82, dead

'I solo travelled 5,000 miles across beautiful continent without spending a penny'

Starmer has no energy, vision or strategy for Britain on the world stage. He offers only weakness, decline and a disregard for the sovereignty of this nation: NILE GARDINER

How profit hungry firms could affect the care you're given by doctors and chemists: JOHN NAISH

Secrets of Britain's biggest Wetherspoons. It can fit 1,400 people and has 100 beers on tap. Now HARRY WALLOP exposes exactly what goes on... and why they constantly need to change the carpet

How weight-loss jabs like Mounjaro and Ozempic can destroy your pancreas. First the flesh dies... then your organs fail. As they're linked to ten deaths, doctors' urgent warning revealed

Hidden breast cancer risk factor that means you're SIX times more likely to get it. Other countries warn women... no wonder doctors now say: 'Patients have a right to know. Too many have died'

DAN HODGES: The most cack-handed, incompetent welfare Bill in living memory

Glastonbury proves that I was right to try to reform the BBC: NADINE DORRIES

Will lynx be freely roaming Britain in two years' time? Natural England chief says they should be

Yes, Anna Wintour could be brutal. But like me she'll surely feel a deep sense of loss to walk away from the cashmere nest that is the editor's chair at Vogue: ALEXANDRA SHULMAN

An ancient village in the Himalayas ran out of water. Then, it moved and started over

After screwworm scare, US-Mexico border set to reopen for cattle imports

The top photos of the day by AP's photojournalists