The world we live and work in has changed drastically over the past few months, since COVID-19 entered our lives. It has been the biggest change that most of us have ever gone through. While this change has affected us in every aspect, from traveling, to socializing, to going to the grocery store, it has affected us equally in the workplace.

For the first time ever, it is now the rule as opposed to the exception to work from home. Thousands of companies are transitioning to full time remote workforces and this trend will not go away even if COVID-19 does. While it is certainly comfortable and easy to roll out of bed and start working, it is natural to lose focus more easily than when you were in the office.

If your new virtual work life has made it focusing on your work difficult, know that you are not alone and that we have a technique just for you. This is a technique that we at Kyo Logic have adopted for years and have found brings great results to our team, allowing our developers to focus on the task at hand even when all of the distractions in the world circulate around them.

The technique we use is called the Pomodoro, named after a tomato-shaped timer that the original inventor of the technique, Francesco Cirillo, used. 

The technique is pretty simple. You spend 25 minutes working on a task and then take a 5 minute break, making each Pomodoro 30 minutes. Now, there are no rules saying you have to do Pomodoros in 30 minute intervals. At Kyo Logic, we have modified our Pomodoros to be 60 minutes with 50 minutes working and a 10 minute break.

The reason why the Pomodoro is a powerful tool is because of two key factors: 

1. It breaks up your day into multiple smaller periods, allowing you to focus each period on a single task. Everybody has been there on a day where you have more on your plate than you can possibly accomplish. It’s petrifying and can get overwhelming. We have seen that a side effect of having too much on your plate is that you spread your focus around to too many tasks, ultimately completing none of them. If you start your day by scheduling out your Pomodoros, you can know that as long as you follow the plan, you will get to everything you need. No need to worry!

2. It includes short, frequent breaks, which allow you to clear your mind, handle the items that would normally distract you from your focus and get yourself ready for the next task. This part of the Pomodoro is really what makes it special, especially in the virtual workplace. One of the biggest struggles that I and most of my team members have is transitioning focus from one task to the next. With the Pomodoro, focus transitioning is a built-in feature.

So, are you ready to take on your new virtual workplace one Pomodoro at a time? To help make this a reality, please download our free Pomodoro Timer below.