Stop Procrastinating: How the Pomodoro Technique Is Key to Achieving More

Are those tomato timers or tomato people? Who’s keeping the time? (Midjourney)

Whether you’re a maladaptive daydreamer, someone with ADHD or other executive functioning challenges, the Pomodoro Technique may be just what you need to get on track with your to do list.

In the late 1980’s, Francesco Cirillo coined the Pomodoro Technique from his his tomato-shaped timer (“pomodoro” is Italian for tomato). His method for focus can be applied to mostly any kind of item on a to do list. Here’s how it works:

1) Identify the task you want or need to focus on.

2) Set a timer for 25 minutes (if you’ve misplaced your tomato-shaped timer, I’ve included a Pomodoro Timer loop right here):

3) Work until the timer expires.

4) Take a five-minute break.

5) If you’ve finished your first task, move onto your next task. If not, return to your original task and keep going!

The Pomodoro Technique can be repeated as many times as you need. It is recommended that for every four Pomodoro intervals (every 2…