Pomodoro Technique: Discover it and start applying it to your life today
If you’re looking for ways to boost your studies and improve your productivity, you may have heard about the pomodoro technique . She aims to help maintain focus while fulfilling her day-to-day tasks.
Therefore, this is a great tool for those who are preparing for the entrance exam or are already attending college and need to focus on their studies to achieve good results.
Thinking about it, we prepared this post to explain how this technique works and what benefits it brings to your life. Continue reading and find out!
What is the pomodoro technique ?
This technique was developed in the 1980s by the Italian Francesco Cirillo, who used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer to manage his time — hence the name: pomodoro means tomato in Italian.
It is based on the idea that taking short breaks after periods of work or study improves brain performance and stimulates focus. For Cirillo, the ideal time is 25 minutes of work (called a pomodoro ) followed by small 5-minute breaks, but these periods can vary for each person.
The important thing is to intersperse periods of focus with intervals to rest the mind. After 4 periods of work, you should take a longer break (between 10 and 30 minutes) before resuming activities.
An important rule is that if you finish a task before the end of the pomodoro time , do not interrupt the counting. Take the time to check your work or review the material studied and, at the end of the period, take a break as usual.
How does this technique help in your everyday life?
After understanding what the pomodoro technique is and how it works , it’s important to know the benefits it brings to your life. For this, we separate some of the important points that the method provides for your routine . Check out:
Decreases interruptions
While you’re studying or working, it’s common for interruptions to arise: cell phone notifications, calls or even remembering that you had to do something . With the pomodoro technique , scheduled breaks allow you to deal with all these situations after completing a period of study.
In the beginning, you may have some difficulties, especially in dealing with the anxiety of resolving these issues. However, over time, you will get used to not allowing interruptions and dealing with these issues at the specific time.
Increases concentration
If you don’t interrupt your task to see a social media notification, for example, you’ll be able to stay focused and optimize your time . Interruptions, in addition to disturbing your focus, also make it difficult for you to regain your study rhythm.
Improves productivity
After long periods of study without rest, the brain does not assimilate content so well and performance in activities falls. The short breaks after each period serve to rest the mind and recharge energies.
That way, you can improve productivity and can take advantage of breaks to look at social media, go to the bathroom or have a quick snack before returning to your studies. There’s nothing like a little rest to regain your spirits and come back with all the concentration you need to complete your tasks.
Allows you to control the time required for each task
Using the “pomodoros” , after a few days it is possible to define the period necessary to complete the activities or how long you can maintain good concentration. With the control of the tasks accomplished in each period, you can evaluate your results and adapt the technique to guarantee the best performance.
relieves anxiety
When we have to deal with multiple tasks at the same time and we don’t get a good income, it’s common to get anxious. As organizing your routine and applying this technique increases your productivity, you will also alleviate anxiety.
In this way, this tool also improves the quality of life, as it guarantees the moments of rest and relaxation that your brain needs, without jeopardizing the fulfillment of all your tasks.
How to apply this technique in everyday life?
With all the benefits that the pomodoro technique provides, you must be wondering how to apply it in your daily life. To help, you can count on some applications and tools that work as a timer, controlling all periods of work and rest. We separate 4 great options. Check it out:
tomato-timer
tomato-timer does n’t require you to download any application: you use it directly in your browser. It comes with an automatic time setting as follows: 25 minutes of work, 5 minutes of short break and 10 of long. At the end of each period it sounds an alarm.
It is necessary to press “start” to start each step, and it is also possible to reset the timer. However, in the “settings” option you can configure the times as you see fit.
pomodoro-timers
The pomodoro-timers works in a similar way to the tomato-timer, but it allows you to customize all times and organize the entire study period , timing breaks automatically. So you don’t have to stop or start each period manually.
be focused
Be focused is an application for iOS (Apple ‘s operating system) that allows you to configure the tasks you need to accomplish, the time for each one of them and customize the intervals. For you to follow your results, it also provides a graph of your performance.
pomicro
If you have an Android device, don’t worry, we also have a similar app to recommend: Pomicro . Very simple and intuitive, it allows you to configure the duration of the pomodoro and the long and short intervals.