Tuesday, July 27, 2021

The Tomato Technique

 


The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980's. As a university student in Italy, Cirillo used a kitchen timer, in the shape of a tomato, to study for 25 minutes, afterwards taking a 5 minute break, then resuming work for another 25 minutes and after 4 rounds he took a longer 30 minute break. He found it a productive way to work and because the timer Cirillo used was in the shape of a tomato, he dubbed the method the Pomodoro Technique, pomodoro being the Italian word for tomato.

In my youth, my grandmother would frequently comment on the price she would need to pay for tomatoes. The state of the world at the time was indicated to her by what she paid for tomatoes. If tomatoes were too high then things were bad. Reasonably priced tomatoes was a good sign. The tomato was her standard.

As the years progressed, I've noticed most people have something to which they look which indicates to them the state of their world and outlook in much the same way my grandmother considered the tomato. Maybe it's the price of homes, inflation or maybe something that has little to do with economy like the weather. It could be who's president, the day of the week it is or what they have for dinner.

I came across the Pomodoro Method while I was writing my book Shut Up and Draw and have found it useful in a number of other projects which gives special meaning to my tomato analogy and begs the question, "what's your tomato?".  

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