The Campbell Academy Blog (89)

Pomodoro

In the late 1980s, Francesco Cirillo discovered/invented a new way to focus time and attention on work, which he named the Pomodoro Technique.

He realised that (at least for him and many others) the myth of doing deep work in a session for 3 to 4 hours unbroken was unrealistic and perhaps almost unachievable for almost all of the most exceptional individuals.

So, he divided his work schedule into 25-minute sections with five-minute breaks and called the sections a Pomodoro, named after the tomato-shaped clock he used in his kitchen.

It's interesting to reflect on this and how we work, but on my best days of deep working, when I have an interrupted time, I can do at least a day's work or more in three hours.

On those days, I can finish work by half past 11 or 12 o'clock and ride my bike for as long as I want, safe in the knowledge and the peace of mind that I've achieved extraordinary things.

While this doesn't lend itself necessarily to clinical dentistry, where you're scheduled to work with patients (although the trend is for all of us to work fewer clinical sessions than we ever used to), it is worth reflecting on the time that you spend outside of your work on your profession, not in your profession, and also reflecting how much you get out of your team when you want them to be at their best.

It seems that for the vast majority of us, the myth of hyper-efficiency and deep work and cognitive effort is probably not feasible and is a myth.

Perhaps a consideration of Pomodoro with five-minute breaks every 30 minutes might change the way you think about this and change the way you look at it.

Of course, your five-minute break mustn't turn into a 55-minute break and discipline is required, but as with all techniques, it's all about practise.

P.S. My daughter, Rosie, who was diagnosed with dyslexia after she left school, instinctively moved towards this technique for her A Levels, and my son, Callum, who's dyslexic, is already on it.

Interesting to think about.