Being productive is one of the best feelings in the world, but becoming productive is no easy task. It’s easy to be distracted by social networking sites, email, instant messaging, etc. These things were designed to make your life simpler, but if misused they can be nothing but time consuming. This is where the Pomodoro Technique comes into play, which is a time management technique that helps you eliminate all distractions and focus on your work. It’s a simple technique that can help you get things done. Here’s how it works:
- Choose a task to be accomplished
- Set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes (the Pomodoro is the timer)
- Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper
- Take a short break (5 minutes is OK)
- Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break
Simple, right? It helps keep me focused, especially when working on tasks that I’m dreading. Knowing that you’re limited to 25 minutes of work before you have to stop and take a break really forces you to get some real work accomplished.
I’m sure most people reading this are not looking to use an egg timer whenever they want to use the Pomodoro Technique. A good alternative is a software Pomodoro timer, which are abundant. Having tried plenty, here are my favorite Pomodoro timers for both Windows and Mac OS X.
Windows: Pomodairo
Mac: My Little Pomodoro