Tomatoes Against Procrastination- aka, The Pomodoro Technique

A friend of mine recently brought to my attention something that has really helped me stay productive and focused during the workday- it's called The Pomodoro Technique, and it's stupid-simple but it works.

Here's how it goes:
Create a to-do list for the day, ordered, starting with the "hardest" one (a technique known as "eating the frog" that I'm sure you're all aware of)

You set an egg timer (there are plenty of free Pomodoro apps out there, but any ol' timer will work too) for 25 minutes. Make sure you can hear ticking

Work single-mindedly on whatever task is at the top of that list for 25 minutes, the entire time the timer is ticking

When you hear a buzz, take a 5-minute break. Smoke a cigarette, grab a snack, whatever you feel like doing to relax

After that 5 minutes is up, rinse and repeat


Every 2 hours, take a longer 20-30 minute break. Ideally, whatever you needed to get done is done. If a task spans multiple Pomodoros, break that single task up into smaller ones so that you're guaranteed to feel a win after every Pomodoro.


That's it! This has easily 2-3x'd my work output, and I'm sure it will work for you Warriors too. For more info on the Pomodoro Method (there's an entire book available) just do a quick Google search, since I can't post links yet. Have fun getting more done!