Although there are many techniques and methods to optimize time and increase productivity, few are as easy to use as the Pomodoro technique, a technique that was invented by italian Francesco Cirillo in the late 80s and today many people benefit from it in their lives.
Many times we start a project with great enthusiasm, but before we even finish it we realize that we are heading towards failure, in most cases this is due to a lack of planning, that is, the lack of organization of the tasks we perform and the lack of planning. lack of time to perform them.
- This method optimizes time management; therefore.
- The main tool is the stopwatch.
- The work is carried out in periods called “Pomodoros”.
- Each pomodoro is equivalent to 25 minutes of uninterrupted work and 5 minutes of rest.
“We can’t afford to spend much more time on small things than on important things. – Jim Rohn-
This technique has a scientific basis. Some studies confirm that the human brain may remain focused for a period that, on average, is 25 minutes, after this time, the brain disconnects, disperses and its performance decreases considerably.
The purpose of this five-minute break is to give the brain a break by doing something different from what it had developed before, so that when the task is resumed, the performance will be much better. It should be noted that after four consecutive pomodoros, the pause should be increased to twenty minutes.
It is important to make a basic planning of the work that we want to do and list the tasks that we have to perform, subsequently, we classify by degree of importance of each of them and establish a logical order of execution, this can be applied to both day-to-day activities and larger projects.
People who use this method have the opportunity to observe how many pomodoros they use in the development of each task, it may not seem so, but it is very important, in this way we will learn to better manage the time and realize, for example, that a task that required five pomodoros can be performed in four pomodoros.
This means that it is not worth optimizing time when using this method only in the application of the technique, over time we have gained more agility to continue optimizing our time even more, in fact, the Pomodoro technique has shown such significant results that it has motivated the creation of software for applications on different platforms and devices.
Initially it was a method to be used individually, but over time proved effective in group work, this technique not only encourages satisfaction of success, but is also a low-cost technology that uses, in its simplest version, pen paper and stopwatch.
It is essential that during each pomodoro we have as much concentration as possible in relation to the work we are doing, that is, we must avoid any form of distraction.
It is very useful to know how many pomodoros we use to perform a task, this allows us to manage our time more efficiently and have more time for other activities.
Over time, and above all when it comes to performing similar tasks, we can set ourselves objectives, for example, to do the work in less time or improve its quality, in this way we will be more efficient and have more free time.