The Pomodoro Technique – Maximise your productivity while working from home

Who else’s workload has seemed to have doubled over the past few weeks? Hopefully this article helps with anyone else in my situation who suddenly has a lot more to do.

After reading a book on the pomodoro technique a couple of weeks ago and practicing it since I am now a firm advocate for the technique. Since then my productivity has nearly doubled with me spending no extra time in my ‘home office’ (spare room). The benefits aren’t just professional either, I’ve seen benefits creeping across to life outside the spare room too.

I’ll go over the basics of the Pomodoro Technique now before highlighting some of the key benefits that have come from implementing it over the past few weeks.

A Short Overview

The Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. He used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer to time his 25-minute work intervals. He called each interval a ‘pomodoro’ – the Italian for ‘tomato’.

The premise of the technique is simple and covers 7 steps.

1. Choose a task and write it down
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes
3. Work on the task until the timer rings
4. Write a tick next to the task
5. Take a 5-minute break
6. Repeat steps 1-5 until you have 4 ticks
7. Take a 30-minute break

It’s as simple as that. You break down tasks into smaller 25-minute bursts of productivity, ticking them off as you go. There are a few more rules than that though to do it properly and be ultra-productive – see blow:

Preparation

In order to use the technique effectively you must plan your week and your days. Write down tasks that you need to do for the week in order of importance. Then each morning transfer some tasks onto your day plan, be optimistic about how many you think you’ll be able to achieve – you may shock yourself.

Next, you’ll need to assign roughly how long each task will take to achieve and break it down into the number of pomodori you’ll need to allocate to each one. You’ll get better at judging this the more you practice, on my first two days of using this technique I was allocating far too much time to certain tasks. When you’ve allocated each task a specific number of pomodori simply draw that many boxes next to the task on your plan.

Finally, pick a task to start on, find a kitchen timer (or just use your phone) and set yourself 25 mintues. Don’t let any interruptions disturb your focus. Focus only on the task you’ve chosen – no outside noise is allowed to get through. Turn off notifications, don’t pick up your phone unless its absolutely urgent and don’t check your emails. You’ll be surprised how much you can get done against the clock when your focusing solely on one task. Your brain won’t even think about procrastinating, let alone actually doing any of it!

Communication

Make sure you communicate this way of working to your colleagues, customers and clients (and when your working from home your family members too). Try to proactively book catch-ups and meetings in your diary whilst planning your day in order to face fewer distractions when you’re deep in a pomodoro. Timer’s just gone off. Back in 5.

Set some rules of engagement with everyone so they know why they’re not to getting an instant reply on a WhatsApp message or emails and why you haven’t picked up your phone. It’s all in the name of productivity.

Especially if you’ve got kids in the house, set up a system to ensure you don’t get any disturbances while you’re pomodoring. Improvise a do not disturb sign on the door so they no not to come in, but make sure to leave the office to give them a quick hug in your 5 minute break.

In short the more you communicate up front, the better it works…funny that!

Big Tasks & Projects

Projects that may take load of pomodori to complete just need to be broken into smaller chunks on your week plan. Do you have an important presentation to write? How about break it up into manageable chunks to keep it palatable?

Outline Structure – 3 pomodori
Write slides 1-5 – 1 pomodoro
Write slides 6 -10  – 1 pomodoro
Write slides 11 -15  – 1 pomodoro
Write slides 16-20  – 1 pomodoro
Finalise Design – 1 pomodoro
Practice Presentation – 2 pomodori

Non-Pomodoro Time

Try to keep your breaks as breaks (especially the 5-minute ones), respond to an important email if you need to and arrange a call back, but try to make sure you have enough time to clear a bit of headspace and get a drink before jumping into another pomodoro. You’ll naturally have admin time throughout your day to catch up on reactive work and correspondence.

A good aim for the day at the start is to complete 10 full pomodori whilst using the remaining time left in your day for that reactive work. As you practice the technique more and get used to the new way of working you’ll be able to improve your planning and will be able to fit more pomodori into your day.

Benefits

• Starting tasks became much easier, knowing I only had 25 minutes ahead of me, the task became less daunting.
• I didn’t have time to procrastinate whilst in a pomodoro.
• I got more done and felt a greater sense of pride in what I was doing.
• I complete goals quicker and in a more targeted way.
• Tackling smaller bits of projects in different orders meant I had a lot more fresh ideas when I came back to each one.
• I was able to place a greater sense of detachment between work and home (especially important now I’m working from home) as having a greater sense of achievement throughout the day helps me be able to switch off.

And there we go graphics made, article written, and ready to go online – all in 2 pomodori!