The Pomodoro Technique, ADHD Productivity
So what is this Pomodoro technique? This life hack was created in the 1980s by a guy named Francesco Cirillow. It was named Pomodoro because he used a timer at the time that was shaped like a tomato and rang after 25 minutes. (Pomodoro means tomato in Italian.)
Basically, it breaks down your time working into manageable chunks and helps you stay focused on the work that you need to get done. As time blindness is one of our biggest issues, especially if we hyperfocus on something, by using external tools, we can manage our time better and prevent burnout.
It also allows us to limit our time being distracted. If you do wind up getting distracted by the Facebook or social media monkey, the alarm will go off after a certain amount of time, and you can reset yourself and get back on track with the actual work, and not fall down the rabbit hole for hours at a time.
To make this more effective, make sure to spend time before setting up your task priorities. If you don’t already have deadlines then either ask for them from those that gave you the tasks, or set deadlines for yourself.
A method I use:
Red - Tasks that I need to be done today, or tomorrow.
Yellow - Tasks that need to be done 2 to 5 days.
Green - Tasks that are due 5 days or more away.
If someone comes to you with a new task, clarify when it needs to be done. If not, put it in the task list frame that it represents.
If it's due today, add it to the Red list. If it's urgent, put it at the top. If you get distracted, work to return to your list.
It is OK if you mess up. It is not the end of the world. Remember that baby steps are the goal. If you get distracted and forget your alarms or whatever, just reset and get back into it.
This technique also works well when combined with Body Doubling (check out this article on it!) and is a proven method for helping keep people with ADHD on task throughout the day. Try it out, and remember, the goal isn’t perfection, it’s persistence. Simply doing it more often than we do not is what we need to be working towards and being realistic about our capabilities.
Shane Thrapp is a Certified ADHD Life, Relationship, and Career Coach.
Through his business, Creating Order From Chaos, he has helped hundreds of people find their paths through the chaos of life with ADHD and find their order and purpose.
He is also the Operations Director for our nonprofit Men’s ADHD Support Group, a board member for the Inattentive ADHD Coalition, and a public speaker who works to be a voice in advocacy for adult ADHD awareness.
If you want to help support our efforts, then please consider donating or volunteering so that that we can keep Inspiring, Educating, and Empowering men to thrive with their ADHD.
