A 10-minute break separates consecutive pomodoros. Regular breaks are taken, aiding assimilation. Once the long break is finished, return to step 2.įor the purposes of the technique, a pomodoro is an interval of work time.

After three pomodoros are done, take the fourth pomodoro and then take a long break (typically 20 to 30 minutes).

If you have finished fewer than three pomodoros, go back to Step 2 and repeat until you go through all three pomodoros.

End work when the timer rings and take a short break (typically 5–10 minutes).

Set the pomodoro timer (typically for 25 minutes).

Closely related to concepts such as timeboxing and iterative and incremental development used in software design, the method has been adopted in pair programming contexts.

The technique has been widely popularized by apps and websites providing timers and instructions. Each interval is known as a pomodoro, from the Italian word for tomato, after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer Cirillo used as a university student. It uses a kitchen timer to break work into intervals, typically 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s.

Productivity techniques like pomodoro