#ThinkfullyHabit: Time for a pomodoro
Struggling to keep focused? Especially when doing systematic, logical and methodical tasks? This should come as no surprise to anyone. The very nature of the thinking processes involved in this type of activity are effortful and slow. Our brain often kicks against it, craving distraction and ease from effort. A simple technique that recognises this reality is the ‘Pomodoro Technique’. It proposes that we break down effortful thinking and activity into bite-sized chunks.
“When faced with long tasks, it is best to impose brief breaks on yourself. Brief mental breaks will actually help you stay focused on your task. ”
WHY?
Continuously detailed and effortful work impacts our thinking processes. Studies have shown that when we are thinking in-depth and undertaking task-based activities there is a maximum amount of time our brains can maintain focus. In reality, it’s probably only around 20-25 minutes for most people.
A ‘pomodoro’ is an interval of short work activity where we work exclusively on a solo task without interruption. This is then separated by a couple of minutes break, before repeating the same cycle a few more times. After 3 or 4 few rounds, the idea is then to take a longer 15-30 minute break. We know that the brain loves this pattern, especially when we intensify both aspects i.e. a stint of intense effort followed by a total and complete break. Doing either half-heartedly is nowhere nearly as rewarding or beneficial for the brain in terms of getting stuff done or letting the mind relax, ponder and reflect. The only rule is that during the break you don’t take on another task. The irony is that the temptation may actually be to keep working through the break; the trick to this method is to impose brief mental breaks on yourself.
Psychology professor Alejandro Lleras from the University of Illinois led a study* which confirmed that people who took two brief breaks during a 50 minute task showed no drop in their performance compared to those that didn’t take a break and whose performance declined. Prolonged attention to a single task hinders performance and the brain needs a quick break to reactivate it and to revive performance.
If something crops up or you have a flash of an idea or remember something, quickly jot it down and get back to the pomodoro rather than be distracted off-task.
Actioning this thinking habit is simple. All you need is: i) an effortful task ii) a timer iii) a little self-discipline.
And why pomodoro? It’s Italian for tomato and the Italian, Francesco Cirillo, who originally devised the technique used a tomato shaped kitchen timer.
Here’s to great work – one pomodoro at a time.
REFERENCES
*Atsunori Ariga, Alejandro Lleras. Brief and rare mental 'breaks' keep you focused: Deactivation and reactivation of task goals preempt vigilance decrements. Cognition, 2011