welcome back to the american product institute.
last week, we published our much anticipated treatise on the product roadmap and the many faces it takes.
this week, we ask: who is in control of the clock on the wall?
is it the clock? is it your inbox? is it your colleague who just dropped a "quick sync" on your calendar?
or is it you? are you in control?
you could be. with the power of the tomato.
pomodoro
pomodoro is a time management technique that divides your time into focused periods of concentration and restful periods of rest.
it is a simple, but powerful technique:
pick a task and set a timer for 25 minutes
do the task, and nothing else, for 25 minutes
rest for 5 minutes
repeat 4 times
rest for 30 minutes
the intervals of concentration are called pomodoros. we like to call them poms.
the creator named the technique pomodoro - the italian word for tomato - because he used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer to track his intervals. the imagery stuck. the tomato is a power source that can be harnessed and the pomodoro is no different.
minutes and hours are units of measure for passing of time. poms are units of measure for getting things done. suddenly your calendar is coherent - translated from units of time into units of productivity. subtract all of the time allotted to meetings and there are only so many poms leftover.
what will you do with them?
even if you don’t have time for full cycles, start by setting aside 25 minutes to accomplish something… then do nothing else for those 25 minutes. and when the timer is up, give yourself a break.
you’ll find you can do a lot with just a single pom, if you approach it with intentionality and focus. you can do a whole lot more with a full cycle.
a few things to remember:
pick one thing per pom
do not context switch before a task is complete.
when it's time to rest, rest.
there are very few uninterrupted poms in a day.
there are even fewer when you don’t make time for the them
the pomodoro is a simple, but powerful technique. especially when combined with ruthless prioritization of your tasks. try it for a week. see what happens.
flow is the official pomodoro timer of the american product institute, but there are plethora of digital and physical options on the market
cover art by n.c. wyeth from the ladies home journal - 1948 - public domain
_(14787110423).jpg){kind=link}