The New Corner Office: You can do a lot in 25 minutes

Why some people love the Pomodoro Technique

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the
new world of work, where location and hours are more
flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to use
a timer to define twenty five minutes of work. When
it's hard to focus, twenty five minutes sprints can help

(00:27):
you accomplish your most important tasks. Don't get distracted by
ruminating on your lack of time. Instead, set your timer
and get to work because you can do a lot
in twenty five minutes. The Pomodoro technique, as this approach
is known, was developed by Francesco Cirillo. The name comes
from the classic kitchen timer that's shaped like a tomato

(00:50):
pomodoro in Italian, but any timer will work. Here's how
the Pomodoro technique works. Identify a task or a component
of a task that you need to do, set your
timer and get started. When the timer goes off, make
a check mark to indicate you've completed twenty five minutes
of solid work on the task. Take a short break,

(01:13):
then repeat the process until you've completed four pomderas, that is,
for twenty five minutes sprints. At that point, take a
slightly longer break, and start the process again. I think
there are a few reasons that this method works for
many people. First, you have a clear goal. You know
what you need to do. You don't sit down just

(01:35):
to work for twenty five minutes. You have a specific
accomplishment you're working toward. Second, you're focusing on nothing but
that goal for twenty five minutes. You're monotasking. While plenty
of people take pride in their ability to multitask, they
are usually overestimating their abilities. And if we're honest with ourselves,

(01:57):
we probably know that we've all had days when we've
had multiple projects in play, plus a continual stream of
emails and techs and other interruptions, and we haven't made
progress on anything. Multitasking feels efficient, but it's not. I
think another reason the Pomodoro technique works is that you
have a fixed amount of time available. Plenty of tasks

(02:19):
can expand to take up whatever time you give them.
When you know your time is limited, you work more efficiently.
Some people even like to use a mechanical timer. Hearing
the ticking and the movement of the dial makes the
time more concrete, you work with a sense of urgency. Now,
not all work lends itself to this sense of racing

(02:42):
against the clock. When I'm editing a book manuscript, for instance,
I like to wallow in time. I don't want to
chop it up into twenty five minute blocks. Anything where
you might achieve a real sense of flow might not
be the best choice for the Pomodoro technique. But even
for these flow activities, there's an upside to pomodoros. Right now,

(03:03):
many of us are working with kids around. If you
don't have someone to care for your kids while you're working,
maybe the kids can learn to let mom or dad
work for twenty five minutes without interruption. Even a preschooler
might be able to understand the idea of a ticking
timer and might respect it if they get a parent's
attention for a while afterwards. That way, you at least

(03:25):
get some focus time, even if you'd prefer hours. If
you need a little bit of extra help entertaining the kids,
I'll point out that plenty of children shows clock in
at about twenty two minutes. That's just about a pomodoro,
And frankly, we all have work that isn't about flow
and that really would benefit from monotasking sprints. If you're

(03:47):
getting up two hours before your household to crank some
stuff out, best not to get distracted during this time.
Aiming for four pomodoros might be your best shot at
using this time as efficiently as possible. So think through
your days. What kind of work would benefit from twenty
five minutes of intense focus? When could you find twenty

(04:09):
five minutes? Even just getting five or six twenty five
minutes sprints in a day might mimic a full day
of work in a distracted office. Because when you do
absolutely nothing else you can get a lot done in
twenty five minutes. You might be amazed at all you
accomplish in the meantime. This is Laura, thanks for listening,

(04:32):
and here's to succeeding in the New Corner Office. The
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