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The Pomodoro Technique
- Read in 13 minutes
- Audio & text available
- Contains 9 key ideas
Synopsis
The Pomodoro Technique presents a simple yet effective method of structuring your workday. This method helps to overcome your lack of motivation by cutting large or complex tasks into small, manageable chunks. Using these techniques, you will gain more control over your work, thus making you a more effective worker and work more rewarding.
Key idea 1 of 9
What‘s in it for me: Get things done without the mental stress.
Procrastination is a term that has become popular in recent decades. And it’s no surprise either. Many of us can relate to the problem of procrastination, and know it intimately:
It’s early evening, you’re sitting in front of your computer screen, and you know those 50 empty PowerPoint slides won’t fill themselves. And yet, instead of tackling this mammoth project, you spend hours perusing Facebook, looking at friends’ vacation pictures.
You don’t even enjoy it, and in fact feel quite guilty about it, and yet, you just can’t stop yourself... Every 5 minutes is marked by opening your email inbox, hoping that you’ll have a chance to delete some spam mail and give yourself a short reprieve from the guilt of procrastination.
Hours pass, and after 7 cappuccinos the presentation is still far from finished.
The author Francesco Cirillo faced this very problem at university. His salvation came in the shape of a tomato, more precisely: a tomato-shaped kitchen timer.
Since then, he’s been using this simple tool to chop every task into smaller, manageable and motivating units called pomodori.
His technique has helped many chronic procrastinators rid themselves of their guilt and learn to enjoy their work instead. Everyone who has checked their email more than twice today should consider giving it a try.
This is a Blinkist staff pick
“This is the one and only productivity system that always works for me. Whomever I tell about this technique immediately applies it to their lives. Its simplicity makes it genius.“
– Laura, German Editorial Lead at Blinkist
Key ideas in this title
- What‘s in it for me: Get things done without the mental stress.
- Chop your work down into pomodori in order to make it manageable.
- Pomodori help you stay motivated so that you get stuff done and get rid of stress.
- There is no such thing as a “half-pomodoro”: pomodori are always 25 minutes long.
- You must take a break after your pomodori; breaks are not optional!
- All you need to get started is a timer and two lists.
- Your greatest enemies: internal and external interruptions.
- You can manage any kind of interruption in order to sustain your focus.
- Final summary
