What Have Tomatoes Got To Do With Productivity?

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What Have Tomatoes Got To Do With Productivity?

by frankbradley on April 20th, 2011
31 Comments

Anyone who has read my Bloggertone posts for the last year will know that I have a keen passion about productivity and making oneself more effective.

A few weeks ago I posted a video in my Tumblr blog, about a productivity method called the “Pomodoro Technique”.

The Pomodoro Technique is a productivity approach that focuses on overcoming what many see as the biggest barrier to productivity, namely multitasking.

Implementing the Pomodoro Technique in 5 steps

Decide what task you want to do
Set a timer for 25 minutes
Work on the task and avoid any distractions for 25 minutes
When the 25 minutes are up take a 5 minute break (even if the task is incomplete)
On the fourth of these 25 minute sessions, take a longer break of 15-20 minutes

The user of the this technique is supposed to keep track of how often they are distracted and do not complete each 25 minute session. Distractions are supposed to be dealt with by mentally noting the distraction and if it is something that needs to be done, taking note. Anything more than this and the 25 minutes session is invalidated, and the user must start over again.

What I’ve Learned

I’ve now been using the technique for 3 weeks:

Planning is key
The first 25-minute session of the day is crucial and is all about planning. I have an Excel sheet that maps the day out. After checking my calendar and blocking out time for pre-arranged meetings, lunch and coffee breaks, I start moving items from my To Do list into the available 25 minute sessions throughout the day.
Dealing with distractions
Avoiding distractions is harder than I thought. During the first week, I was struggling to get more than a few 25-minute sessions completed each day, without distractions. These distractions for the most part consisted of checking emails and work related RSS feeds, responding to IMs from work colleagues and answering the phone.
The need to change behaviour
After identifying email these distractions, I began a process of changing my behaviour to help me become more focused. I now create a minimum of two-25 minute sessions each day to deal with work email and RSS feeds. If it’s a day when there is a large volume of email and RSS activity I’ll make a judgement call on whether I need to add more email/RSS sessions later in the day. I’ve been struggling a little more in avoiding phone and IM distractions. This week I’m resolving to let my phone ring out. If it’s important enough they will leave a message. I also need to get better at turning IM off during my times of focus.
Estimating how long a task will take
The more I use the Pomodoro Technique, the better I become at measuring how long it will take to do a task. Initially it’s very difficult to estimate how many 25 minute sessions it will take to complete a task. However, I record my daily activities in a spreadsheet and I can reference these logs, when the same or similar tasks come up again, to see how long they will take. Going forward this will be very helpful in helping me to manage my workload and to make decisions on whether or not to take on new tasks or projects.

So, what have tomatoes got to do with productivity?

Well, those of you who know some Italian will recognise “pomodoro”, as the Italian word for tomato. Why is this productivity method called “The Pomodoro Technique”? It was named so, as the creator Francesco Cirillo, when developing the technique used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer, to time his 25-minute sessions of focused activity.

For more information on the Pomodoro Technique go to http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I would love to hear any thoughts or questions you have about this approach to improved productivity.

Image: Corey Burger

Category: Business expansion, entrepreneurship, Personal growth

Tags: distractions, Multitasking, planning, Pomodoro, Productivity, Tomatoes

The Author: frankbradley

I live in Kilkenny, Ireland, and I'm married with one daughter. I was born in Derry, and came to Kilkenny via Manchester, England, and Dublin. My passion is all things Social Media, and for the last 2 years I have been working as a Social Media Evangelist for Oracle, where I have worked for the last 8 years. This role entails, promoting the use of Social Media internally for improved communication and collaboration. My other interests include sports, especially football (soccer), reading, video games, movies/tv, music and walking. http://frankbradley.tumblr.com/

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http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairéad Kelly

Nice post Barney, all it takes is a simple shift in perception and our view of what we are can change dramatically to add a new title. The trick is to not get caught up with all the titles. I once heard someone earnestly say to the person beside them that they were “a food engineering supervisor at a customer interaction point” translated: supervisor at a deli-counter.
Anonymous

OMG that was hard work Barney

I never looked at myself as a project manager before …. As my dad would say – “that’s another feather in my cap”

Nice post – Paul
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

lol, great title & a great post, thanks fo sharing Barney
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Your just a multi-talented kind of guy Paul . Thanks for reading and the feedback.
Best
Barney
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Mairead, thanks for the comment. There are indeed some classic job titles out there – as you say, it’s what we do that counts.
Anonymous

Very funny approach to this topic! I’m still laughing ! LIke Paul, I didn’t consider myself as a project manager. Yet, when you stop to consider how many details go into a successful client experience that it does make sense to see it as a project. I frequently work with my client to systems (or processes) into place so they spend their time doing what they do best. I’m currently working on a project with a colleague who is trained in Agile and it has been such an education so far!

What resources do you suggest we look at first if we’re new to project management?
http://www.stress-solutions4life.com/ Catherine Connors

Great post Barney and I didnt even need to make that cup of coffee …….
http://twitter.com/fredchannel Fred

Cool post Frank. Thanks for sharing this technique. It’s so true… when it comes to concentration, we are our biggest enemy 25 minutes make a lot of sense. It doesn’t feel like it’s a period of time in which you should be sprinting. I’ll give it a try!
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Sounds interesting Frank!nnI know from training people that 25 mins is about as long as humans to appear to be able to concentrate. By taking lots of breaks, you actually end up increasing the productivity within the space. nnThe biggest obstacle to running training progammes in this fashion is guess who? Management of course! Who will worry that this technique has the opposite effect. It amazes me how companies continue to completely remain uneducated as to getting their employees to be more productive. nnSales, where I have a lot of experience is notorious in that most sales teams spend vasts amounts of time on the wrong tasks, largely because they are expected to the management. nnIt’s a strange world sometimes
Roisin Bell

I love this post Frank and I’m going to give this technique a try. The 25 minute sessions really appeal to me as they’re short! Previously I’d been aiming for 40 minutes, as I had thought this was the ideal concentration period, but 25 sounds much more do-able! nAre you tempted to look at emails and IMs etc during your 5 minute (and longer) breaks or do you get away from your desk altogether?
http://www.stress-solutions4life.com/ Catherine Connors

This is a super post Frank and a must read for anyone with ‘time management’ thoughts on their mind, I’ll be recommending it to others…..
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

I want to go out and buy one of those timers right now. So I guess a kitchen supply shop might be more appropriate than an office supply shop then?nThank you for the “timely” reminder to continue trying out this technique, as I learned about it via your own blog.nRe IM and phonecalls, as Sean Gallagher would say “Turn the hoor off!!” (for reference he said that to a woman who complained that listening to Joe Duffy was depressing her)
http://mindfulproductivity.net/ Beverley

Obviously tomatoes have an awful lot to do with productivity. Who would have thought!nn25 mins is a good chunk to get stuff done in…it always surprises me how much I can actually get done when I totally focus.
Anonymous

Thanks for the comment Fred. I hope it works out for you. The key i’ve found is during the first 25 minutes and planning the rest of the day.
Anonymous

Strange indeed. Once I master this technique myself, the next step will be trying to implement in situations with other people. Bringing it into a training situation sounds interesting and very challenging.
Anonymous

Thanks for the comment Roisin. Good luck with the implementation. I’ve seen variations of the technique and most of them aim for the 20/25/30 minute period of focused activity.nnI try to force myself to walk away from my desk during the 5 minute break. I’ve started building in activities to make sure these things happen e.g. brushing my teeth, doing stretches to compensate sitting down for most of the day, making a cup of tea etc.
Anonymous

Thanks Catherine, for reading, commenting and sharing
Anonymous

Thanks for the comment Elaine. I’m thinking of getting a timer myself. Started by using a timer on my phone, but it ate the battery. Currently on a desktop timer, but I find it too distracting.nnGonna have to take Sean’s advice and turn the hoor’s off!!!
Anonymous

Thanks for the comment Beverly. It is amazing what you can do when the focus is there. I find that I’m now getting tasks done in a few hours, that normally took a full day, when I used to pause to deal with interruptions.
June Oh

I have read this somewhere before that to increase our productivity, we could work in blocks of 20-30 minutes and during that time, we should be all focused on doing the task on hand.

Now, I know that this technique is called Pomodomo!
http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

You know what’s soooo difficult Eamon; communicating and justifying an idea that you know is just the bee’s knees. It’s amazing how the simplist questions can be a person’s undoing. It’s much the same in an interview – ‘why do you want this job?’ You applied for it, so you must know. If you thougt of a great idea, why is it great? I’d add considering what your ISP is and growth potential, then link to demand.
Anonymous

Thanks Christina – you’re quite right, it can be difficult to communicate an idea succinctly and it’s remarkable how often ‘invest-ees’ fail to pay enough attention to the role their own street creds play in investment decisions. Of course these are related – as we know, there is never a shortage of ideas but there is commonly a shortage of top class implementers. So if you can marry crafting a story well told regarding what you want to do with a demonstration of what you can do and have done – your stock as an invest-able proposition is going to rise. Your point is well made, showing personal capability can often attract more weight in an investment call than the idea itself.
http://twitter.com/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

Great post! I think that social has been a tough nut to crack for Google for quite some time, but they have really made a serious breakthrough here. The goal was always to make search more personal, more social – because it’s about getting reliable and trustworthy information when it comes to making decisions – and the most reliable info is always going to be that which comes with the seal of approval or endorsement from friends and people you know and respect.

The example relating to music gigs you gave is an excellent one – I have always wondered why finding gigs I want to go to has to be so challenging on Google (you need to check individual band websites, or trawl through forums, or perform multiple searches with slightly different keywords!) – search becoming vastly more social is something that will plug these gaps in a unprecedented fashion. Exciting times, and I believe this will be an enriching experience in people’s lives!
http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairéad Kelly

Thanks for explaining it so clearly Neil. I’d read a piece on it earlier and it didn’t appeal to me at all, in fact it made it sound very intrusive. It’s one of those things that will have to be balanced to be effective methinks.
http://www.facebook.com/NeilSissonBusiness Neil Sisson

Well actually the information is all already available on-line, its just now you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to find it So there shouldn’t be any issue of intrusion because Google is only accessing data you will have already chosen to publish on Twitter or perhaps your Google+ account.
http://www.facebook.com/NeilSissonBusiness Neil Sisson

Yeah I agree with you Anton, I think with this the global village just got smaller but also more local in a sort of a paradoxical fashion.
http://www.facebook.com/NeilSissonBusiness Neil Sisson

Thanks Niall.
David Quaid

Its a nice post Neil but I’m not so sure I entirely sure that that is how it will work. People in Social Media marketing have often equated “share” as being 100% the same as “support” or recommend. I know that many people will read this and be completely puzzled because we’ve all accepted that share is incontrovertibly the exact same thing as “I recommend this to you my [league of extremely loyal] followers [sheep]”

The biggest problem that absolutely nobody in Online marketing wants to face up to is that this is 50% theory and 50% speculation but 0% proven.And Personalised search still hasn’t made a big leap in Ireland – 5% of search at best (and I’m aware Android requires you to login etc).

Just because we’d like it to work that way – doesn’t make it so. I’m not saying that personalised search and social inclusion won’t happen or won’t work – I’m saying its definitely not going to work in a straight line like this.

Take Elaine’s very good example there – how many people does Elaine know in her social networks who’ve gone from Cape Town to South America? Where is social search going to kick in there?

I tend to avoid buying the same things my friends buy. I trust my social network even less.

The reason search has always been critical to the internet (and it was before Google just as it is now. Google didn’t invent search, they perfected it) is because its random. When you start getting the same sites you always click on (e.g. Google Personalised) or the same links from Mashable from your twitterstream, then you’ve stopped using the internet. You are now just playing catch up with the guy beside you. And that’s not why users swarm to the internet…..they can do that offline
http://www.bloggertone.com Niall Devitt

oops, forgot Elaine who doubled as prize giver! Thanks Elaine!
http://www.smartsolutions.ie/blog/ Elaine Rogers

What a great competition!!
It’s been a mad month, trying to keep up with all the BizSugar “RockYourBiz” entries, but wonderful posts, and great content.
Well done Anita, Heather, Niall and the team for pulling off a great event, and huge congratulations to all the winners and my fellow sponsors.
I know they will get great use from the super prizes!
ElliStGeorgeGodfrey

Congratulations to everyone! Lots to learn as well as great reminders!

Kudos to the BizSugar team for running a great and very useful contest!

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Tweak Your Biz » Growth » What Have Tomatoes Got To Do With Productivity?