72% of workers said they procrastinated 1 hour and 54 minutes a day at work in 2019 (OpinionWay study). Stress, a lack of purpose or motivation, or even a lack of listening skills and flexibility can lead to a drop in productivity.
Time management & personal efficiency: Have you heard of the Pomodoro method?
3 minutes
Staying focused at work is without a doubt a big challenge for most workers. Procrastination is still widespread due to a lack of motivation, purpose or even commitment. So it's a good thing that there are solutions like the Pomodoro Method to help you stay focused.
As a result, everyday office life suffers and tasks can take much longer to complete. Gallup's 2023 State of the Globe Workplace survey of workers around the world shows that 79% of workers are not productive throughout the working day, telling researchers that they are “fully effective for less than three hours”.
There are solutions to reverse that trend and to get better organised, such as the Pomodoro method.
What is that, exactly?
It’s a time management technique developed in the late 1980s and now used by perhaps two million people around the world. It was developed by Francesco Cirillo, who wanted to make workers more efficient by working 25-minute periods with short breaks in between.
To implement it, he applied the idea of a timer in the shape of a tomato, which is called ‘pomodoro’ in Italian. That technique combines work and breaks and aims at improving concentration and productivity by breaking time into smaller units. He calls it a way of “transforming time into a precious ally”.
Simplicity and efficiency
The Pomodoro Method allows you to concentrate on a task for 25 minutes without distraction. So to get the most out of it, how does it work?
- With the help of a timer, you have to determine the amount of time you need to complete a task (this time interval is called a ‘pomodoro’). The general rule is 25 minutes, but how long you take is up to you.
- Then all you have to do is concentrate on a task until the timer goes off, marking the end of the first Pomodoro.
- After a short five-minute break, the process is repeated a total of four times.
- At the end of this first cycle, a longer break (between 15 and 30 minutes) allows you to relax and catch your breath before starting a new Pomodoro cycle.
Less tired, better concentration and, therefore, also more efficient.
“I decided to use the time to take a break, to allow my mind to organise the information it had collected during the working day and to put myself in a better position to start my next Pomodoro,” says Francesco Cirillo.
This organisation has many objectives, he explains: it prevents mental fatigue, maintains concentration and encourages time management and efficiency. A relatively simple method that can prove effective. And, therefore, prevent procrastination.
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