The Pomodoro Technique for Writers

I’ve been doing it again.

I’ve been avoiding a writing project, and I’ve also been avoiding reflection on why I’m avoiding said project in the first place.

In these moments, my tendency is to judge myself.

The nasty inner critic leaps at the opportunity to lob insults: How can you call yourself a writer when you aren’t actually writing? You’re never going to be as good as you want to be. You must not really want this because you’re not making it a priority. Yada yada yada…

It’s so predictable that it’s almost boring.

Thankfully, the inner critic doesn’t derail me as much as it used to. I now see it as simply what it is: little more than a predictable, kind of boring part of the writing process.

Anyone who’s taken one of my courses knows that my best advice for disempowering the inner critic is to arm yourself with a creative writing toolkit. Earlier this week, I added another tool to my own toolkit, and I want to share it with you here. It’s called the Pomodoro Technique.

What Is the Pomodoro Technique?

The Pomodoro Technique is a now-popular time management tool that was invented by Italian Francesco Cirillo.

Various sources describe the process a little differently, but the basic premise is straightforward:

• Choose one task or project to work on
• Set a timer for 25 to 30 minutes, start the timer, and get to work
• When the timer goes off, take a five-minute break
• Repeat this process four times
• After the fourth session, take a longer break (15 to 30 minutes)
• If you’d like, draw a line for each session you’ve completed
• If you’re up for it, repeat the whole sequence

Because I do a lot of work in the entrepreneurial space, where most people are hell-bent on squeezing every ounce of productivity out of their bodies and minds, I’ve been familiar with this technique for a while. But so far I haven’t found a use for it in my professional life, because I’ve already determined my ideal work rhythms.

Last week, I was reminded of the Pomodoro Technique while editing a piece about incorporating more physical activity into the workday. (In that context, the suggestion was to use the five-minutes breaks for short bursts of movement.)

That reminder incited my decision to see how the technique worked when applied to a literary writing project. I’d been feeling stuck, and here was a new-to-me tool that might help jumpstart my efforts again. So on Monday morning, I sat down at my desk, pulled up my manuscript, and set a timer for 25 minutes.

My Experience with the Pomodoro Technique

I didn’t go into this test run with any expectations. My attitude was basically, “What the hell, just give it a shot.”

So I was surprised by how much I loved using the technique.

Because the chunks of work are relatively short, I found myself feeling really motivated to focus on my work for the full 25 minutes. I got into it, and I was surprised by how much writing and revising I completed during each work session.

While short, the five-minute breaks felt rejuvenating. I used these periods to walk to the kitchen and refill my water glass, play with Hanna, look out the window, or shimmy around the living room. These short interludes enlivened me before I ever had a chance to get that glazed-over feeling that comes from too much time spent in front of a computer.

Perhaps most importantly, using this technique made my project more accessible. I’d been putting it off for a while, but even the most undetermined part of me couldn’t come up with a reason why I couldn’t revise for a mere 25 minutes. So I did. And then I wrote for 25 more. And 25 more, and 25 more…

It was one of the most enjoyable hours of writing that I’ve experienced. And thanks to the breaks, it didn’t feel anywhere close to an hour.

How Writers Can Use the Pomodoro Technique to Their Advantage

Easing Into It

One of the ideas behind the Pomodoro Technique is that our brains are more amenable to short bursts of work than they are to hours-long slogs.

I think this premise is especially useful for writers, because it’s so easy to expect a finished product from ourselves the first time we sit down to work on a project. That expectation is like a flashing red light and a screaming siren going off in our brains: Warning, warning, hours-long slog ahead!

For example: If you tell yourself that you must revise all 30 pages of your manuscript in one sitting and that they must be ready for publication in the Paris Review by the end of it, that’s a tremendously daunting task. (This is a purely hypothetical example, of course.)

But if you tell yourself that you will work on said revisions for 25 minutes and then take a break no matter what, it infuses the project with more spaciousness. That spaciousness comes in the form of less judgement and fewer expectations — because nobody can expect Paris Review-level writing from 25 minutes of work.

Avoiding Distractions

Another benefit of the Pomodoro Technique is that it encourages you to avoid distractions.

By arbitrarily imposing a strict time limit on your work, you create a sense of scarcity: I only have 25 minutes, so I better get on this!

There’s no time for dawdling (read: endlessly refreshing email inboxes or social media). So you get to work.

Gamification

I haven’t read any studies to this effect, but I would also guess that the Pomodoro Technique is effective for a lot of people because it gamifies creativity.

Gamification involves the application of elements that are commonly found in games to other types of activity. Those elements could include scoring points, competing with others, abiding by rules of play, receiving awards for winning, and so on. Marketers often use gamification to increase engagement with various products or services, but its purpose doesn’t have to be nefarious. The simple fact of the matter is that a lot of people like games.

The Pomodoro Technique has rules of play (see the process above). It lets you “score” in the sense that you feel a sense of accomplishment after each work period. It rewards the successful completion of work periods with pleasurable breaks. And because there’s this perpetual sense of time ticking down, it encourages you to compete against the clock.

All of this makes the process more engaging and fun.

Testing the Pomodoro Technique

Of course, the Pomodoro Technique isn’t a guarantee. It’s simply another tool. It won’t work for everyone, but it might work for some people.

If you haven’t tried this technique before, I encourage you to give it a whirl. If you don’t have time for a round of four work bursts, consider starting with just one or two.

Maybe you won’t enjoy the technique as much as I did. Maybe you’ll love it. Either way, you’ll have added one more tool to your creativity toolkit. Score one for you.

Do you have a favorite time management tool for writing? Have you ever tried the Pomodoro Technique to support creative writing? I’d love to hear from you below!