Pomodoro 'tomato' method: Working focused, highly effective without fatigue

In every age, there are so many things to do, hundreds of pressures on the shoulders and still with a 24 hour / day fund, how to focus with maximum capacity, high efficiency and limited time. Minimal stress management is something that most people expect to find a solution.

Do you see that students can stay for 4.5 hours continuously to watch movies or write documents, but the bigger the chance, the worse it will be? Even to concentrate for 30 minutes is very difficult for many people?

Some people have the ability to "stay up" at night or work continuously for 12 hours during the day but then fall into a sleepy state, "half awake" and have to sleep to "recover" . Obviously, this habit can not guarantee your efficiency, it is even easy to make work piled up. Many people call this a "virtual excitement" phenomenon , meaning that it can work with a spirit of enthusiasm only at a certain time.

If you are falling into this situation, this article will introduce you to a method of working focused, creative and even tired - which may be familiar to many people but not everyone knows. It is Pomodoro , also known as the "tomato fruit" method , developed by Francesco Cirillo .

In 1980, as a student, Francesco Cirillo - CEO of an Italian software company, found her concentration often plummeted after a period of time and it was difficult for him to solve the exercises. Francesco Cirillo then offered a short break between sessions instead of working for a long time.

He gave a high concentration of work (study) during 25 minutes, then took a short 5-minute break and started a new 25-minute session. Every 25-minute session, Francesco Cirillo called it a Pomodoro.

Who is the Pomodoro method suitable for?

The method of tomato fruit is suitable for developers, designers or anyone who is working in creative field : book writer, editor, software engineer, game programmer, application, copywriter, content staff, writing script, reportage, journalist .

However, saying that does not mean that Pomodoro cannot be used by people working in other fields. Anyone who is being "betrayed" or has a lot of work to be resolved and feels helpless because he cannot concentrate even for a short time, the "tomato fruit" will work.

It is said that there is a good big boy who believes the mistress of the forest recruits a saw. He came to apply, found his "rival" a doctor who looked like a dwarf.

On the day of the test, the lady gave each person a saw and two people would be in two different forest blocks to challenge. The boy firmly believed in the victory in his hand and saw the day sawing in the night without stopping. What bothered him the most was that many times during the day, he saw the dwarf uncle carrying his saw through with a cup of hot tea, walking while whistling and always smiling. He thought: "Already old, short, and still . lazy. I ignore, the victory is definitely about me".

After the time has passed, the hostess comes to accept and announce the results. The dwarf is chosen. The boy was very annoyed and decided to ask the landlady for it. The landlady replied, "The other man saw a lot more wood and a half of you!"

The boy who thought forever could not explain why the "man who was both short and lazy" could win against him, so he decided to ask."Hey, are you stealing my wood? Are you so lazy and more wood than me?"

The dwarf laughed loudly, explaining that when he saw it like that without resting, the saw blade would become increasingly blunt, the performance would be reduced. But he kept cutting for about an hour, and sawed again and again to the edge of the stream, so that the saw blades were always sharp, helping him to cut faster without losing too much strength.

How to apply Pomodoro method?

Pomodoro is a time management method to maximize your work focus. In Italian, Pomodoro means tomato.

Steps to implement Pomodoro method

1. Step 1: Choose the job you will do.
2. Step 2: Set the time, usually 25 minutes.
3. Step 3: Work until 25 minutes
4. Step 4: Take a 5-minute break.
5. Step 5: After 4 breaks, take a longer break with 10 minutes (or 15 - 30 minutes depending on the work and strength of each person).

The principles of Pomodoro method

1. In 1 Pomodoro (25 minutes process, 5 minutes break), if you have to interrupt, Pomodoro will be recalculated from the beginning, no 1/2 or 2/3 Pomodoro.
2. Only focus on doing one thing with 100% of the time specified.
3. If the job is done before Pomodoro ends, you need to use the remaining time to check and optimize the job to the end of Pomodoro.
4. During breaks (5 minutes, 10 minutes), you need to rest really. Close your eyes to relax, listen to music, drink water, massage your head, face, meditate, arrange desks, walk in the office or do simple things without using much thinking. When taking a break, absolutely avoid everything related to the Internet, Facebook . because they may stimulate your excitement, but nature still makes the brain more tired.

The app supports Pomodoro method optimization at work

1. Go to http://tomato-timer.com/ to get an electronic watch to keep track of Pomodoro. To get started, simply click Start . 25 minutes will begin to pass and this is the time that you will have to concentrate on your current job. After 25 minutes, press Alt + S to reward me with 5 minutes of breaks. At the end of 5 minutes, a new 25 minute period starts again. For every 4-minute break of 5 minutes, you will have a longer break with 10 minutes by pressing Alt + L. You can repeat this cycle for 8 hours at the office and you will find yourself doing more but not feeling as tired or tired as before.

2. Marinara Timer is the web application that allows you to set up breaks and work time. In general, usage is quite similar to Tomato Timer.

3. Tomighty (Win / Mac / Linux) is a cross-platform software that allows you to install on a computer to make it more convenient to use.

4. Pomodorable (OS X) is a combination of a Pomodoro time management software and a todo list software. With Pomodorable, you will know when the work is done, what to do next and how much Pomodoro should be set up to finish a job.

5. Simple Pomodoro (Android) is a time tracking application that doesn't have as many customizations as other tools. However, it also gives you useful notifications when it is time to rest, work and understand how much Pomodoro you have completed in the day. More importantly, SimplePomodoro is also compatible with Google Tasks.

6. Focus Timer (iOS) is ideal for iPhone and iPad. You can customize the time interval at will, notification sounds, review work history and the app also provides a star-based rating system to motivate you to try.

Finally, the important thing to remember is that Pomodoro is a method of optimizing your productivity, focusing on increasing your concentration, avoiding fatigue and not helping you manage time. Therefore, you can combine with other techniques such as the Eisenhower Matrix method to better control everything in life.

One thing is for sure, when you first start, you will have a lot of difficulties, such as losing 5 or 6 Pomodoro to be able to finish a job or not fully focused. Because Pomodoro requires a great deal of effort from each one and only really affects the way you work when you try. However, if perseverance applies, you will definitely get results.

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