Stick to your New Year’s Resolutions with The Pomodoro Technique
Happy New Year! 🎉
It's that time of the year again where I like to sit down and...
Reflect on the new year’s resolutions I set last year 🤔
Grow disillusioned by how few of them I actually achieved 😭
Eat some birthday cake to make me feel better (one of the benefits of being born on Jan 1st) 🍰
Use the sugar rush to set the same goals for this year, let’s go! Woo! 🙌
Sound familiar?
It's a traditional cycle that many of us go through, particularly when it comes to health and fitness.
Just check out the google trend for "gym membership" for the few years before COVID and see how every January a spike occurs…
However, I want you to succeed this year in your New Year’s Resolutions and to help you, I want to introduce you to a technique that you might find incredibly useful.
It’s a technique I use every day to help me focus my work and it’s also thanks to this technique that I managed to stay productive while writing up my PhD thesis (which could be a slog at times - writing up statistical results is dry!).
You can also even use this technique to help you break bad habits as well!
It's called The Pomodoro Technique, and it's a simple, yet effective way to help you focus and stay on track with your goals.
The Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s.
It's based on the idea that we all have a certain amount of willpower and focus that we can use throughout the day.
The technique helps you make the most of that willpower by breaking your work into short, focused bursts of 25 minutes, followed by a short break.
Here's how it works:
Set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on one task for that entire time.
When the timer goes off, take a 5-minute break (I like to stand up, stretch my legs and get away from the computer).
Repeat this process for four "Pomodoros" (four 25-minute work sessions) and then take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.
Now, you might be thinking, "25 minutes? How is that enough time to get anything done?" But trust me, it is.
When you're working in short bursts, it can help you to focus, get less distracted and as such, get more done in less time.
Plus, the short breaks in between each 25 minutes help you to recharge your brain and refocus your thinking.
You can use a timer on your phone, but as I work a lot on my computer I like to use a dedicated Pomodoro-style app which better tracks your work. The free app I use is called Flow but is only available on Mac, iPhone or iPad. If you’re on a PC you can out PowerPom.
Or a great gamified Pomodoro-style app for the phone is called Forest. Forest works particularly well if you get distracted by your phone. At the start of your timer you plant a virtual seed which grows into a tree once your timer is done. However, if you get distracted and use your phone during that time… your tree will die! 😱
So that’s The Pomodoro Technique, but how can it help build new habits as part of your New Year’s resolutions?
New Year’s Resolutions… 25 minutes a day
You want to start by identifying the habit you want to create. This could be anything from exercising, reading, practicing a new language, or in my case making a game.
Find a moment each day around the same time that you think you can dedicate at least 30 minutes to. This could be before work, on your lunch break or after work.
Then during your time set aside each day:
Pick a specific and achievable activity to work on.
Set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on that activity alone for that entire time.
When the timer goes off, take a 5-minute break and celebrate your success!
By breaking the habit down into small, manageable chunks, you're making it much easier to stick to it. It’s important to try and do it each day as the habit will start to feel more and more natural until it becomes second nature.
It starts to add up as well, so far I’ve been able to dedicate 325 minutes to my new habit over the last 13 days, which is definitely more than I spent all of last year!
Now it may be easy to get distracted the first few times you do it, which is totally okay. Try and find yourself a quiet place, turn off any notifications, hide your phone and go for it. If you’re still having issues focusing for the entire time, or even just being able to dedicate 25 minutes a day to your resolution, then make it easier to achieve by shortening the length of the timer. 5 minutes a day is better than 0 minutes a day and will add up to 30 hours over the year!
Breaking bad habits with the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique isn't just about creating new habits, it's also a great way to help break bad habits! For example, if you want to break the habit of checking your phone or social media every 5 minutes, then you can try setting a 25 minute timer as a way to not check your phone for 25 minutes at a time. Then pull it out and reward yourself during the 5 minute break (just make sure to put it away after the 5 minutes though!).
The Pomodoro Technique isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution but it is a great tool that you can use to help you focus and stay on track with your New Year’s resolutions goals. The key is to find a way to make it work for you, your goals and your lifestyle.
So give it a try and see how it can help you reach your goals this year. Happy habit building!
Additional links and reading
Find out more from the creator of The Pomodoro technique here: https://francescocirillo.com/products/the-pomodoro-technique
