Being productive in whatever you do is important; nobody likes to waste their time doing useless things. But no matter how focused you are, distractions will occur. One solution or technique that proves to work all the time is taking breaks during work. Taking breaks is important because, come on, working all the time is an awful idea. You can only work for so long before you hit your breaking point, unable to do anything no matter how much you try to focus.
I, being a college student, a part-time contributor on this blog, and a future animation artist, spend the majority of my time sitting in front of a computer. I have to sit and work for hours without moving around. Not only does this make me sleepy at the end of the night, but it also opens me to various health risks. To fight the problem of health risk without losing my productivity I started following the famous Pomodoro technique 4-5 months back and although the changes have not had a huge effect on me like I thought, it surely did improve my focus on work.
What is the Pomodoro Technique?
Pomodoro technique simply means taking regular breaks during work or managing time during work in a way that does not let the work take its toll on you. This time management technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. As per this technique, a person should divide his work into intervals of 25 minutes and then must take a break of 5 minutes. In these 25 minutes, he must focus on the work only, and should again continue its work after a break of 5 minutes. This 25-minute interval is called Pomodoro. After 4 consecutive Pomodoros, break time should increase to 15-20 minutes.
If you feel like doing something else during the 25 minutes of work time, write it down. You’ll see that after some time you will get used to focusing on work during those 25 minutes and your urge to do something else will be reduced. Keep practicing and over time, you will train yourself to be more focused and productive during each Pomodoro block.
The secret of working better is not working longer; it’s working smarter. Working for a longer time is tiresome and reduces productivity while taking short breaks will keep you focused and energized, but make sure to stay dedicated to your work during every Pomodoro block.
The traditional time for the Pomodoro technique is working for 25 minutes and taking breaks for 5 minutes. But you don’t have to follow this strategy – work till you can completely focus and then take a break.
I follow a different strategy. I work for 35 minutes and then take a break for 10 minutes. During this break, I move away from my computer and take a walk or play games. I do whatever makes me feel relaxed for the next 10 minutes. If you feel comfortable working 15 minutes and then taking a break for 5 minutes; do that. Just make sure to take short breaks during work. Don’t quit if you don’t get it for a few days, follow this technique for at least a month and continue further if you like it.
