Why is Pomodoro Still Relevant
Pomodoro is a timeless and still relevant technique for improving your productivity.
Jul 29, 2024
Management
4 min
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Pomodoro, a famous procrastination killer, is a brilliant technique developed in 1980 by Francesco Cirillo that is helping tons of people to do more every day. But why is it so good and why should you definitely use it too?
The Pomodoro Technique
The technique itself breaks apart long blocks of work into more approachable 25-minute blocks divided by 5-minute long breaks. Have you already completed three consecutive rounds of a work block with a pause block? Congratulations, you've earned yourself a 20-minute break. That's it.
Four Reasons Why Pomodoro is Still Relevant
Simplicity
The final state of a finished thing, service, project, or anything else in that matter that is timeless usually is very simple. This is the main reason why Pomodoro is so popular and why you should give it a go too. It is simple.
The level of approachability is what makes it a no-brainer in comparison to trying to completely turn around your habits in one go. I mean it is possible to learn Pomodoro in about a minute.
Good Productivity Starting Point
I think we are underrating the value of trying. There is no shame in trying, but sometimes we force ourselves to do things immediately. Pomodoro is motivating you to start and don’t care about the outcome, which lets you get into flow and guarantees that some outcome is waiting for you at the end of each iteration.
Pomodoro is, from my point of view, the ideal technique to start with when you want to get into a more productive state of yourself. It's easy to understand and easy to build upon.
Customizability
You can adjust the Pomodoro to your liking with a few simple adjustments:
Adjust the length of work blocksAdjust the length of pauses
Make your breaks active
Don’t be afraid to prolong the work blocks, if you feel the flow, you can continue. This also comes naturally when you truly embrace the technique itself and make it a habit. After a few iterations, your brain lets you do more, and that's a good feeling, creating a positive loop for your workflow.
Longer breaks are not a weakness. I believe it is better to do something than to do nothing. This is the main goal of Pomodoro, to start. I have also seen the improvement of this in leading tracking tools, like Toggl, which has implemented Pomodoro into their tracking tool where you can adjust the length of both work blocks and pauses, and for a good reason.
Try to get up on the break and go for a short walk for a coffee or just to do a quick stretch. That way, you can also follow good working habits and make your pause more impactful, leading to more relaxed and productive work blocks.
Burnout Prevention
One of the many benefits of Pomodoro is its ability to prevent you from burning out. The predefined structure with pauses is ideal for hard workers who are facing challenges to stop. To be able to take a rest is questionably one of the most important and understated aspects of good productivity habits.
Pomodoro Pitfalls
There are a few things to keep in mind when using this technique:
Flow disruptions
ADHD challenges
If you set up the Pomodoro trackers with alarm notifications, it can be disruptive for the flow. I recommend turning off notifications for the end of work blocks or making notifications as ambient as possible. In the end, Pomodoro is designed to mitigate procrastination. It should be used with that in mind.
It is believed that Pomodoro is not ideal for people suffering from ADHD conditions. And this makes sense to me, even though I am no expert on ADHD. Pomodoro can naturally present a challenge for you to be able to focus after the break, restricting you from getting into hyperfocus. Be aware of that and maybe search for another way to help you get things done before implementing Pomodoro in your own workflow. I believe in you!
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This post has been written in a single Pomodoro block.
