The Pomodoro Technique for architects

Devised by Francesco Cirillo, this technique enables you to extract the maximum output from the time at your disposal and boost your productivity immensely. Architects are bound to benefit.

If you know Italian, you’re probably wondering what pomodoro has got to do with productivity. It is, after all, the Italian word for ‘tomato’ and surely a humble vegetable cannot possibly contribute to our effort to extract greater output from every working day!

The name comes from a tomato-shaped timer that the innovator and entrepreneur Francesco Cirillo used, to come up with this acclaimed technique that promises to improve your time management and raise your productivity. The idea is most unusual. Cirillo says we should work in bursts of a set period of time, conventionally 25 minutes, after which we take a break. We should set the timer for 25 minutes, work without distractions until the timer chimes, then take a break. Each 25-minute work period is called a pomodoro and the plural is pomodori.