Continuing on the idea of finding focus and repeating it ruthlessly.

In case you’re unfamiliar with it, the Pomodoro Technique is a productivity system that involves dedicating 25 minutes to focus on a single task. You repeat these 25 minutes of focused work until your task is complete. A five-minute break follows every 25 minutes of work. That’s basically it. The idea is that you do this throughout the day, measuring all your work in the number of Pomodoros it takes, and use that to schedule your workday.

Practically everyone I know who uses the system doesn’t bother with tracking their Pomodoros or using them for estimation, but it’s great for timeboxing. The thing about the system that makes it so popular is the basic rule that when you’re in a Pomodoro, you focus on only one thing. Just one thing for 25 minutes means that email, Twitter, talking to other people, getting coffee refills, and answering the phone are all off limits.

When you first learn about the Pomodoro Technique, focusing on one thing for 25 minutes initially sounds simple, but when you try it for the first time, it can be challenging at first. But it does get easier. It’s a curious thing how little the idea of focusing on one task for 25 minutes has come up before now, and how much mental adjustment is needed to work with that condition.

Starting a Pomodoro is always the most challenging part. Once I’m in the middle of one, aside from people’s interruptions, it’s smooth sailing. To try to reduce my anxiety with starting them, I’ve begun making Pomodoros a more regular part of my routine, and as a result, I’ve started searching for more opportunities to do Pomodoros.

Some effects of this:

• I’m paying closer attention to the things I do that consume a lot of time.
• I’m noticing the activities I do that make me want to break focus more (e.g. I want to check Twitter more when I’m reading than when I’m programming)
• I’ve noticed that I’m significantly more productive when working on something during a Pomodoro session compared to working on it independently.
• I want to explore more opportunities to use Pomodoros.

When the system wasn’t a routine for me, I found myself saying, “It’s just X, it would be too much trouble for me to pomodoro it.” However, after becoming more accustomed to the process, it shifted to “That would be great to do with Pomodoro.”

The Pomodoro Technique: http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/
Focus Booster App: http://www.focusboosterapp.com/
Pomodoro Timer: http://navel-labs.com/apps/pomodoro-timer
Pomodoro menubar app App: http://pomodoro.ugolandini.com/