Small Business

The Pomodoro Technique: Make Your Productivity Soar

By Rick Broida

Updated on: November 11, 2010 / 11:27 AM EST / MoneyWatch

Overwhelmed by your workload? Try the Pomodoro Technique. It's a simple, straightforward method of boosting your productivity by making a small change to the way you work.

Here's the five-step overview, as described by creator Franceso Cirillo:

Choose a task to be accomplished.
Set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes (the Pomodoro is the timer).
Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper.
Take a short break (5 minutes is OK).
Every 4 Pomodoros, take a longer break.

The idea here is to narrow your focus to a single task at a time, thus cutting out the distractions of other projects. By forcing yourself to take a break every 25 minutes, you not only give your brain a chance to relax (even if just for a few minutes), but also get the satisfaction of completing something. (Even if the task itself didn't get done, the Pomodoro did.)

Want to learn more? Get the free Pomodoro Technique e-book, which you can read online or download. At the same time, check out the Pomodoro Windows 7 Gadget, a simple timer designed expressly for, er, Pomodoro-ing. There are Pomodoro apps for most smartphones, too.

Personally, I'm still a fan of the three-item to-do list, which doesn't involve a timer but does give me the same sense of completion. That said, the Pomodoro Technique seems to take that idea to the next level, and as such definitely deserves some investigation.

If you've already tried it, hit the comments and let me know if you're a convert. And if not, why?