The Pomodoro technique was devised by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s while he was a university student, using a tomato-shaped kitchen timer (pomodoro is Italian for tomato). A 25 minute block of single-task focus is its basic unit.
How a 25 minute session works
- Choose one task. Not a list. One thing you will work on until the timer rings.
- Start the 25 minute timer. Press Start, then work. If something interrupts you, write it down and carry on.
- Stop when it rings. Even if you are mid-sentence. Take a 5 minute break with the 5 minute timer.
- After four sessions take a longer break, commonly 15 to 30 minutes.
Making the most of the session
- Remove the easy distractions first. Close messaging apps, silence your phone and put drinks within reach.
- Be specific. "Write the introduction" is a better task than "work on the essay".
- Respect the break. Move, drink water, look out of a window. The break is part of the method, not a reward for finishing.
- Adjust if you must. Some people prefer 15 or 50 minute blocks. The Pomodoro timer lets you change the lengths.
- Track sessions, not hours. Counting completed sessions gives a realistic picture of how much focused work you do in a day.
Using this timer
The timer is set to 25:00. Tick Keep screen on under More options (where your browser supports it) and use Full screen if you want only the countdown in front of you. You can add a quiet ambient sound such as brown noise or soft rain. These are generated in the browser, not recordings, and they stop when the timer ends.
One Pomodoro cycle on the clock
| Step | Length | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| Focus 1 | 25 min | 0:25 |
| Short break | 5 min | 0:30 |
| Focus 2 | 25 min | 0:55 |
| Short break | 5 min | 1:00 |
| Focus 3 | 25 min | 1:25 |
| Short break | 5 min | 1:30 |
| Focus 4 | 25 min | 1:55 |
| Long break | 15 to 30 min | 2:10 to 2:25 |
Four focus sessions and three short breaks take 1 hour 55 minutes, before the long break. The Pomodoro timer runs the whole sequence for you and switches between focus and break automatically.