Although for some people, a familiar tune in the background helps to focus on their work and even serves as an indicator when you should stop working: as soon as you start listening to the music actively, that means it is worth taking a break. And your task during rest intervals is to relax! Do not play music in the background. This will help you avoid all these 'well, I’ve been working for 23 minutes, it’s time to relax' and 'plus one minute to rest time won’t hurt anyone.' Also, you should avoid watching YouTube and surfing Instagram during rest breaks because all these will load your mind with extra information. Yes, completely (if, of course, the task completion doesn’t require the Internet). Silencing notifications is not the most radical suggestion for successful work. Unsurprisingly, 25 minutes without a smartphone seem like an eternity. That’s why you feel anxiety of missing something important if you put your phone aside even for a second. They provide you with new information and you experience different emotions every time you use smartphones. According to psychologist Larry Rosen of California State University Dominguez Hills, smartphones are designed, in part, to cause anxiety. And what can be done with the feeling of anxiety if you do remove them? If notifications constantly attack you, you probably suffer from the fear of missing out, the fear that usually torments businessmen. Silence all notifications?! It’s easier to say than to do.

You should silence all notifications: instant messenger and other stuff can wait half an hour.

Pomodoro cannot help you become super productive if you don’t have the list.

You should have a list of clear tasks for the day (preferably by priority).

To make it work, you need something else: It seems as simple as a piece of cake: you set the intervals 25/5, and here you go! But simplicity is deceitful. And the most important thing is that you should work in a quiet place with a minimum of distractions (open spaces are not good for this, though you can use headphones and 'Do Not Disturb' status).

All of the above are the patterns of behavior that destroy your true productivity. Also, you can list all the distractions like the endless notifications, tea breaks, or emails in your inbox. Progress, checklists… - just because people love to put check marks :) On the same piece of paper, you can write down any ideas that you came up with during the working interval or a puzzle that popped into your mind. In addition to a timer (a kitchen one, like that one Francesco used, will do), a paper and a pen will come in handy to mark the 'tomatoes' that have been done. After 4 Pomodori cycles, take a long break of 15−30 minutes. Then do 25 minutes of concentrated work again. The idea of the technique is very simple: 1.

He used a tomato-shaped timer from his kitchen. The Pomodoro technique is the brainchild of Francesco Cirillo, an Italian student from the 80s who was looking for a way to concentrate on his studies.

Pomodoro tomato timer