Reasons Why 54.3% Productivity Enthusiasts Endorsed This Powerful Life Hack
I conducted a poll in a group dedicated to productivity hacks. 979 members responded to the poll
Recently, I learned a new productivity technique to get more done in a day. I found that it has significantly improved my work output. I was curious to see what other productivity nuts thought about it.
I put up a poll in a subreddit (r/productivity) dedicated to productivity hacks. The group has a whopping 850,000+ members! But as you can imagine, not all of them actively participated in a poll. I still got a total of 979 responses to my question.
And the verdict is —

The technique in question is called the POMODORO technique. It is considered to be quite useful by more than half of the respondents.
How does the highly endorsed technique work?
Francesco Cirillo developed the POMODORO technique in late 1980s. This technique breaks down a task into smaller tasks that can be done in 25 minutes. Each task is then given a 25-minute slot. Every slot is then by short breaks of 5 minutes.
The principle is simple — you work with full focus for 25 minutes and then forget about the work for 5 minutes. During those 5 minutes, you get a coffee, drink some water, or just relax. Then you move on to the next stage of the work. After every 3–4 sets of POMODORO, you take a longer break. The key idea is to preserve and effectively utilize your energy so that you don’t get too worked out from long stretches of work. We often like to spend hours working on something but then feel too drained to do anything afterward. I have also faced burnout in the past due to working too hard and not giving myself enough time to breathe.
Benefits of this technique
Some key benefits of using POMODORO are —
- Helps you manage procrastination
- Keeps your motivation level stable
- Manages mental and physical stress
- Allows you to plan better
- Breaks the cycle of multitasking
- Gives you a sense of accomplishment every 25-minutes.
However, there is room for improvement
While 53% endorsed this technique, the other 47% didn’t find it useful. So, you have to accept that this might not be useful for all types of work. For example, this can be a good method for studying and desk jobs, but might not work for any sales professional.
Secondly, among the ones who endorsed it, some people suggested modifications. Even I use longer stretches if the work requires it. For example, I start my day with a small 25-minute slot to go through emails and plan for the day. I follow it up with either 25-minute or 50-minute slots. 50-minute slots require a 10-minute break and I make that adjustment. How do I choose the length of a session? It depends on what type of work I need to do in a given day.
To Summarize —
The key idea is to force yourself to take regular breaks. Your POMODORO sessions can be 35 minutes followed by 5 minutes rest or of any duration that fits you. But you must take breaks regularly to get the benefit out of it.
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