Are you feeling stuck? Do you procrastinate a lot? Then this is for you. Grab a tomato, kick away your distractions, and get your work done quickly.
This is a time management technique that has been used by people around the world. It has been proven to have life-changing power.
This technique is called Pomodoro. You can call it ‘tomato game’. Here, you have to think of time not in hours but in tomatoes. Is it freaky? Just keep reading. You will find an interesting tomato game that helps you complete your unfinished work piled up on your laptop and table effectively.
This technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo, a university student in the late 1980s. In this technique, a timer is used to break down into short intervals. These intervals are 25 minutes long and are followed by a short break of 5 minutes. These intervals are known as Pomodoros. Pomodoro is the Italian term for tomato. This technique is named Pomodoro because Cirillo had used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer.
If you are easily distracted or have lots of open-ended work to be completed, such as studying for an exam, this is for you.
First of all, you have to find a timer. Once you find a timer, let’s start.
Set your timer for 25 minutes. Then you can start doing one single task until the timer rings. Once you have completed your task, that means you have completed one Pomodoro. Now, it’s your turn to have a short break — a five-minute break — before starting another Pomodoro. Continue to complete Pomodoros followed by short breaks, and once you have completed 4 Pomodoros, you can have a much longer break of 15-30 minutes.
Now you know what this tomato is that you can use to complete your unfinished tasks effectively but hold on!
There are three rules to this tomato game. Only if you follow these rules can you get the maximum use of the tomato game.
No. 01 –
Break down complex projects into smaller tasks. Just think of one of the tasks that need more than four Pomodoros (1 Pomodoro – 25 min focused work session + 5-minute break) and divide it into actionable steps.
No.02 –
Combine small tasks. If there are tasks that need less than a Pomodoro to complete, combine such tasks to complete in one session.
No. 03 –
A Pomodoro that is set should be a ring. This means once you set your Pomodoro, it can’t be broken. Pomodoro is an indivisible unit, and NO! You can’t break your Pomodoro for any reason, such as texting, gaming, checking your social media, etc. All the ‘I should do now’s that come to your mind during your Pomodoro should be noted down to check later.
Just think you had to face an unavoidable distraction. For this kind of situation, Cirillo has recommended taking a five-minute break and starting again.
If you finish your task before your Pomodoro ends, Cirillo has asked you to use it for improving skills, learning a little more, and extra reading.
So, for your benefit, here we have added a summary of this tomato game in picture form.
Tomato thinking – happy working!