Turning Chaos into Clarity with a Tomato

In the late '80s, my main focus in life was ice-skating. One day my coach was sitting on the side of the rink waiting for me for our next lesson – and next to him was a shiny plastic tomato. I was immediately intrigued and asked him about it. He smiled and said that he would like to introduce me to Pomodoro and that this little guy was going to become my new best friend. You see, during our lessons, I had a hard time focusing on one discipline – as my time with him was valuable, so I was interested in running through the list of all my current challenges. Well, with lessons being in 30 increments, this was a challenge in itself – especially if it was a long list – and my lists were always long. So, the result was that I never felt satisfied with my level of instruction. Thus, the beginning of my journey with the shiny red tomato. 

Right around this time, a method called the Pomodoro Technique was becoming popular as a means to manage time more effectively. Developed by Francesco Cirillo, the technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Each interval is known as a Pomodoro, from the Italian word for 'tomato,' after the popular tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used when he was a university student. 

This technique was pure genius to me. I remember the first time we used this approach is when I finally landed a triple. In the first five minutes, we decided on the priorities, and the remaining 25 minutes we focused on achieving the agreed-upon task. 

Fast forward to my life in business...this has been a technique that has allowed me to manage my time efficiently. Honestly, it gives others the impression that I am an excellent multi-tasker (which I am not ;-) But of late while working from home, I have been lax in following the process, and I am feeling less productive and more scattered. With the pandemic, we have not only eliminated the structure of going into an office every day, but general errands and other routine habits have flexed as well. So, what this leaves us with is an opportunity to have more free time to use either in a productive or non-productive way. Lately, I have not been so productive. 

So earlier this week, my business coach mentioned that time is the only thing we cannot get back. There are 86400 seconds in a day. She asked us to think about as each second goes by; have you wasted precious time that could have been used to propel you forward? My answer was Yes – and then I immediately thought back to the little red tomato - Pomodoro! I knew I needed to embrace the method and put the technique back in action. With half the week over, my productivity has already doubled last week. My focus is back on point, as well as my clarity on priorities.

As I know many of you are struggling with working from home, future job stability, and many other unknowns, I thought I would share the method with you in hopes that it allows you to gain more control over the seconds you have in the day. Enjoy! 

The Pomodoro Technique

1. Decide on a precise task that you want to focus on that will take you at least 25 minutes to do. Make sure to break down projects into smaller, manageable task that helps you get your flow on.
2. Start a timer for 25 minutes and start working on the task. This time block is known as Pomodoro. Treat it as an indivisible unit of time. You can never do half a Pomodoro. Do not work on anything else. If you get distracted, take a breath, and gently bring yourself back to work. It happens. If your distraction pulls you away from the task at hand, cancel the Pomodoro by resetting the time to zero. Over time, the technique will condition you to focus exclusively on the task at hand and will increase your productivity and discipline. 
3. Once the time ends, time for a mini-celebration! Get up, stretch, get some water, do a happy dance. You have a 5-minute break until you start the next Pomodoro. 

Take the Next Step and Make a Commitment

Along with the Pomodoro technique, I couple it with a Productivity Score and a Weekly Commitment.  

At the end of each day, I rate my productivity from 1 to 10. Now the trick here is to know what a ten looks like vs. a one. At each start of the day, I ask myself, what does a ten look like today? And if I am a one, what would have I accomplished? For example, if I have 5 top priorities for the day, but my ultimate goal is to get through my most important task, and if I do not complete the others, I would still see the day as a 'Good Day' then I would rate my productivity as a 7. 

As for a weekly commitment, on Sunday night, I take 15 to 25 minutes to plan out the goals for the week. Each week I commit to using the technique in 5 days intervals. If I am successful in using the method and documenting my progress, then I give myself an award, such as an ice cream sundae from Morelli's. However, if I am not successful in documenting my progress, then I promise to do something I am not a big fan of – like donating to a political campaign I do not support. I also list three things that will help ensure I am productive during the week. 

The Pomodoro Technique, Productivity Score, and the weekly Commitment Goal are simple but have helped me find my productivity groove in what feels like a sea of extra time. I once again feel as if each second in the day has a purpose.