‘Flowtime’ Is a More Flexible Alternative to the Pomodoro Technique

THE Pomodoro technique is a superstar in the world of productivity methods because its principle – that you work hard for 25 minutes, then reward yourself with a few minutes of rest – is effective and attractive. But that doesn’t mean it works perfectly for everyone.

Like any other method, it is adaptable and, once you have mastered it, should be customized to meet your unique needs. And if you find that Pomodoro’s 25-minute work sessions with five-minute cooldowns aren’t enough for you, there is a similar but more flexible alternative: flowtime.

What is the flow time technique?

The flowtime technique is a variation of Pomodoro and, as such, is based on the same principles: you work for a while, then take a break. The difference is that You determine the duration of work and rest time. Sometimes called “flowmodoro,” this method also involves keeping yourself in the zone of one task, drawing you toward other tasks. deep work using the goal of taking a break to continue. A break is crucial, so no matter how long you work, you need to take one. Not only does this motivate you to stay focused, but your productivity will suffer greatly if you work too long. Flowtime – or any technique designed to help you do deep work – is useless if you end up producing waste.

The key here is the uninterrupted work you do while you aim for this break. Like Pomodoro, you’re supposed to stay focused on a single task for the duration of your work, rather than doing a little work, checking your phone, typing some more, checking email, etc. less effective.

The only reason Flowtime is really different from Pomodoro which You decide how long you work, instead of relying on the “25 hours on, five hours off” principle. With Pomodoro, you’re more strict, usually using a timer to keep you working and checking your phone. You may not think you need the timer with the flowtime technique, but you should use one with a stopwatch function to track how long you actually end up working and keep it on hand for those days when you need the added structure of the timer itself. In fact, once you’ve completed a few days of flow and determined your own work habits with the timer, you’ll need the timer so you can set it in custom increments.

This is where I recommend using an app to help you manage things. My favorite is FocusPomo, which blocks your distracting apps when you’re in a focus session. These sessions are customizable, so they don’t have to be 25 minutes long, and once you use them for a while, you’ll get useful data on how long you worked and when you may have been distracted.

How to set up your personal stream time

The downside of using Flowtime on Pomodoro is the same as the upside: you are responsible for how long you work. Although the Pomodoro technique is simple and maps out exactly how long you work and play, setting up your personal flow time requires a little more effort and thought. It will take you about a week to figure it out before fully implementing it.

During this exploratory setup period, here is what you do:

1. Track when you start working on a specific task without any distractions. You can use time tracking softwarebut in this case a spreadsheet might be better because you too…

2. Notice when you start to feel restless, distracted, or disinterested. Check your stopwatch to see exactly how long you’ve worked, then take a break.

3. Note when you feel energized enough to return to the task and restart your timer.

4. Repeat until the task is complete, then note when you’re done and how you feel overall.

In a spreadsheet, dedicate one sheet to each task to be completed. Your columns can be labeled however makes sense to you, but something like the one below, including a date, start and break times, and a final conclusion time, is useful. After using the worksheet for a while, you’ll have a feel for how long you can usually work on something before you need a break, and how long those breaks typically need to be for you to feel rejuvenated enough to return to it.

Credit: Lindsey Ellefson

Once you have an idea of ​​your own professional abilities and preferences, you can put them into practice. If you can usually focus on cleaning for 15 minutes, start setting your timer for 15 minutes each time you clean, then give yourself a break that works for you, whether it’s five or 10 minutes. Commit to getting back on task. From my personal experience, this part is very important. I can think of many times when I haven’t committed to returning to it, but I notice that I feel much less motivated when it happens. Focus on those feelings of self-satisfaction and use them to motivate yourself to come back.

You can challenge yourself to gradually add more time to your work sessions, but it’s optional. If your specific method works for you, great. If you want to improve your concentration for long periods of time, start by adding a minute to each time you perform a task, increasing it from, say, 15 to 16 to 17 minutes each time. It’s helpful to go back to the spreadsheet if you’re considering doing this, to see if you’re starting to withdraw too early and to readjust your flow time.

Keep in mind that you must go through this experimental period for each type of task. If you’re working on a graduate school application and feeling extremely motivated, time can pass quickly and you may find that you can work for an hour without a problem. If your house is messy and you have trouble finding the motivation to clean, you may not be able to do it for more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time. It wouldn’t make sense to set aside an hour for cleaning just because it’s something other than you can do for an hour – you’re just setting yourself up for failure. Unfortunately, this means that the preparation period for adopting Flowtime is long, but it is worth it.

It’s not an easy solution if Pomodoro doesn’t work for you. It is rather a challenge to find a temporal combination that do work for you. Something is always better than nothing, so find the flow time that fits your needs and harness the power of uninterrupted work with the promise of breaks, even if it looks a little different from the norm. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel like you’re working in long enough increments at first; Productivity decreases when you don’t give yourself enough breaks, so consider this a way to make sure that doesn’t happen.