Eat that Frog with a Pomodoro

Let’s just get right to the heart of the matter: I actually ended up really liking this method and it’s probably something I’ll continue to implement when I want to kick my productivity up a notch.

At first, working in such small increments felt unnatural. There were quite a few times, especially in the beginning — when I was tempted to ignore the timer and continue working. But, I forced myself to stick to the format.

After some time, the technique started to really gel with me. I was focused and insanely productive during my work time, as I was eager to get as much completed during that 25-minute interval as I could. I didn’t find myself mindlessly scrolling through WhatsApp message thread or getting in by those pesky clickbait articles. And, as a notorious multi-tasker, I noticed that I was totally zoned in on the one project at hand.

Because I was forced to get up and give myself a rest from staring at my laptop screen, I found that I actually did feel better at the end of each day. Not only did I feel like I had put in an honest day’s work, but I also felt less stressed, blurry-eyed, and cramped up.

Go figure, actually standing up a couple of times throughout the day really does help.

However, I wouldn’t be an honest Engineer if I didn’t outline at least one drawback. While it worked great on the days when all of my time was my own, it became quite complicated when I had scheduled calls and meetings. I didn’t think my clients or colleagues would react too favorably to me yelling, “Be back in five! My timer just went off!” in the middle of a conversation.

So, I ended up just completely deactivating my timer during these meetings — whether they were 15 minutes or an hour and picking back up with the technique when those appointments were finished. Perhaps that means I bent the rules a bit, but I couldn’t figure out a better way to handle that situation.

All in all, I was surprised to find that I actually really liked the Pomodoro Technique, and I think it lived up to its promises of making me more focused and productive. I’m planning on using it on those days when there’s nothing in my calendar. However, I’m curious to see how well it works for someone who regularly has a lot of meetings, phone calls, and follow-ups.