What I Learned Using a Productivity App

I have been hearing about “the Pomodoro method” for quite some time now and finally decided to try it for myself.

For the uninitiated, Pomodoro is a supposed productivity hack, consisting of 4 25-minute periods of work with 5 minute breaks in between. After 4 25-minute work periods, you then get a long break of 25 minutes. At least, this is the default. You can change the numbers around however you want.

All the apps do is time the intervals for you and sound alarms when time is up. I downloaded the first app that showed up when I searched “Pomodoro” in the App Store and immediately tried it out on the default settings.

This is what I learned:

• 25 minutes is so fast. 25 minutes seems like a perfect, undaunting amount of time. I was always surprised when time was up.
• Breaks aren’t rewarding unless you give yourself something nice to do. Mostly, I just wanted to continue working during breaks. But I started coloring and doing other fun stuff on breaks that made me like them more.
• You realize how often you just want to check your phone. I reached for my phone so many times, only to pull my hand away when I saw the timer ticking down. And 25 minutes is not a long time to respond to a text! They can wait.
• A good way to work on multiple tasks at once? This might go against the whole spirit of the technique, but I started using my breaks to work on other projects. I have a billion things to do! I kind of liked working on the immediate tasks while still making progress on longer term projects.
• Pomodoro means “tomato” in Italian and the original inventor still holds the copyright. The app I downloaded doesn’t mention the word “Pomodoro” anywhere, but it has the tell-tale tomato in its logo! This prompted me to look it up (on a break of course).

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I’m not sure if I will stick to the Pomodoro Technique. I think it would be useful for people who find themselves distracted a lot, but I resist anything that adds any structure to my day.

I might give it a go for another few days, but it definitely didn’t change my life.

​❤ Bayley​