Within our evolution as humans is the understanding that most problems benefit by having a multi-pronged approach. Helping people to work more efficiently is well-served by taking what we know about the 21st century attention span and applying a combination of neuroscience, physiology and most definitely psychology.
Thanks to the work done by Loer and Schwartz, we now know that when looking to increase work effectiveness, the key is to manage energy and not just time. The Pomodoro Technique takes that idea and gives us a simple method to maximize our productivity. Here the idea is to break time down tasks into 30-minute work sessions, where 25 minutes is devoted to singularly focusing on one task and 5 minutes to take a break in order to renew energy.
This method helps you to first feel like what you are working on is manageable because it breaks it down into smaller segments. That in itself prevents the draining of energy as nothing can take the wind out of one’s sails more profoundly than to see a project as insurmountable. Having just a chunk to work on fires up the mind to stay focused. Just knowing it’s for a short period and that at the end of the time there is a reward (a break) provides a natural bridge to the self talk that says I can’t do this…” It’s what we used to call “Grandma’s rule”—first you make your bed, then you can go out and play. Under those circumstances making the bed becomes strongly associated to a pleasurable outcome. For us and our task, having the experience of knowing you can stay focused and use more of your brain capacity to get more done in less time is hugely reinforcing. This also helps us break the hold of faulty perception, most notably Parkinson’s Law that says, “Work expands to fill the time available for it completion.” If I have all day to get an article written, guess what? It’s almost always going to take the whole day. Since that’s a long time, as a human being with a human mind, I am more likely to let my focus lax, allow distractions in and dilute my ability to stay connected to my creative source.
For the Pomodoro Technique to be effective, it is advised to set a timer. After 4, 30-minute periods of a 25-minute work spurt followed by a 5-minute break, a longer 15-30 minute break is taken. For entrepreneurs, telecommuters or those of us who have independence over our work schedules, this method is worth at least trying as it just might release us from procrastination, fuzzy thinking and inevitable feelings of being overwhelmed.