Like all of us, Cirillo was struggling to focus on his studies and complete assignments. Feeling stressed, he asked himself to commit to just 10 minutes of focused study time. Encouraged by the challenge, he found a tomato (pomodoro in Italian) shaped kitchen timer, and the Pomodoro technique was born. A pomodoro is a focused work session alternated by short breaks. Every person has a different attention span. Depending on your span of attention time, you can make your own schedule of focused study /work time, alternated with short duration of breaks Research shows that a normal human being cannot upkeep the same levels of productivity after 48 minutes of continuous deep work/study. We keep on dragging our energy with hardly any productivity or results. The optimum duration for focused work/study as per research for most individuals is 25 minutes followed by a 5-minute break. This makes up for one pomodoro. After four such pomodoros, one long break of 15 -20 minutes is taken. Let me explain this through an example. When the students are about to enter the examination hall, with only half an hour left, suddenly the focus level of each student rises to its peak level This is due to the pressure of the time target and the need to get to the goal within the target time. Applying the same principle, we can create a time target, get into the groove, and study/work effectively till the consecutive break.
CHUNK DOWN-
Tough complicated projects can be planned into short, time-based goals, which then helps to complete the task as a whole on the set time
STRICTLY STICK TO THE TECHNIQUE-
Deep, focused work means “no distractions at all’.
Checking notifications, email, chatting away, and replying to urgent queries, should be avoided at any cost. A timer should be set, which will ring after 25-45 minutes and one short goal should be achieved with no distractions.
ENJOY BREAK TIME-
Once you enter the break time, just focus on the breaks. Enjoy the break fully without thinking about the work/study. Do something which is most enjoyable for you. You can also pre-plan each break. For example, one break is dedicated to playing with a pet, another for calling up a friend, painting/sketching, another for grabbing a delicious bite, and so on.
REWARD YOURSELF-
Once your long-term goal is achieved within the set time limit, reward yourself.
This increases your motivation levels.
PLAN YOUR OWN POMODOROS- Depending on your focus level, you need to plan the trajectory with your start time, and your breaks, and set time targets for the completion of the task. EFFECTIVENESS- The ‘sticking up’ to the pomodoro technique, helps you focus effectively on the deep work and study, while the enjoyable break time keeps up your enthusiasm, energy, and productivity levels. Your performance levels are constantly in an upbeat mode. This pomodoro technique has been proven to be very effective and is catching rage among students and corporate officials.
Hope this blog proves useful to you
Thank you.