I am familiar with the pomodoro technique for focus and I...
Love it!
Hate it!
Recipe first, story second
Pick a task
Set timer for 25 minutes
Take a 5 minute break
Repeat 3 times and take a longer break, e.g. 15 - 30 min
Origin of Pomodoro techinque for focus
In the 1980s, an Italian university student, Francesco Cirillo, was struggling to focus and manage his study time. He nabbed a timer from the kitchen which was in the shape of a pomodoro (i.e. tomato in Italian). He fiddled around with different timer lengths and settled on 25 minutes.
It turned out that he stumbled upon a process that works well with the way human brains function and learn.
Why might it work
As one researcher summarizes, "the efficacy of the Pomodoro Technique is due to the following principles:
limits the amount of time the brain has to focus;
decreases the procrastination tendencies;
lessens distraction born from multitasking;
forces completion of tasks (Santiago, 2023)."
Pomodoro in teaching contexts
One intrepid researcher in the Philipines sought to measure the effect of embedding Pomodoro technique in a biology classroom teaching Mendelian genetics to high school students. They were broken up into two groups, one was lectured per usual and the other used Pomodoro breaks.
During the lecture for the Pomodoro group, they "during the lecture proper, the time was divided into three chunks... A 5-minute brain break was implemented between these chunks, followed by a recalling activity...During the brain break, students were instructed to do either of the following: Go out of their learning space, drink water, talk to someone, or listen to and watch videos or music not related to the class (Santiago, 2023)."
The pomodoro students had significantly improved concept mastery than the lecture as usual group.
How it helps to focus at work
Not only does the pomodoro technique overcome procrastination and assist with completing tasks, it also improves learning, comprehension, and concept mastery.
What I tell my patients
Start with the original 25 min on / 5 min break structure and give that a try a few times (4-5x). Once you get a feel for how that works, you can adjust the focus interval and break interval to suit the needs of your tasks and your brain.
What I use
I find the Chrome browser extension called "Marinara" to be free and simple to use. But many more options exist for phones, web applications, and apps.
Reference: Santiago, C., & Gurat, M. (2023). The effect of Pomodoro technique on student Mendelian genetics concept mastery during synchronous remote learning. International Research Journal of Management, IT and Social Sciences, 10(4), 233–243. https://doi.org/10.21744/irjmis.v10n4.2287