The tomato method helps to maintain concentration during study and work. Windows 11 allows you to put it into practice, thanks to the Clock application. Gone are the days when people weren’t distracted by so many digital tools designed and developed specifically to grab attention. Above all, the smartphone manages to keep us glued to the screen every day more than we imagine: we can not resist without reading the latest notifications received, without watching some online videos, or seeing what friends share on our favorite social media.
All of this negatively impacts our most important activities, which we continue to procrastinate due to the vast amount of time spent browsing online. It takes the name of the tomato method and allows you to alternate in a more balanced period of work or study with others of pause to increase productivity.
What Is The Tomato Method?
The technique takes its name from a kitchen timer with a tomato, which the inventor of the method used to divide the study time during the university period. It all consists in establishing the activity that must be completed and then setting a timer at 25 minutes, during which our concentration must be dedicated entirely solely to it. At the end of this interval, you can take a break that varies from 3 to 5 minutes before moving on to the next 25 minutes, also called ” tomato. “
After the four sessions (or tomatoes), you can allow yourself a more extended rest period: generally, 15-30 minutes, depending on the amount of work to be completed. The goal is to minimize disruption as we go about our business. To keep the count of tomatoes, you can also use a piece of paper:
- Just plan how many to complete.
- Draw a box for each of them.
- Put a tick at the end of each time interval.
Although using a mechanical timer, a sheet of paper, and a pencil is preferable to minimize distractions. Several applications allow you to put the tomato method into practice much more quickly. On Windows 11, for example, you can use the Clock application without installing third-party programs.
How To Activate The Tomato Method On Windows 11
First, you need to open the Windows 11 Start menu, start the Clock application and click on Productive sessions in the left sidebar. Four subsections will appear:
- The first allows you to set the concentration-time intervals to multiples of 15 minutes and start the section.
- The second section is That of the ‘ Task List’ integrated with Microsoft To-Do. This tool allows you to plan your To-Do Lists effectively.
- The third keeps track of the Daily Progress, i.e., the number of sessions completed and the hours dedicated to your activities. Here you can set daily goals by clicking on the pencil icon.
- The fourth is a widget for Spotify and is used to quickly access the playlists dedicated to concentration, as long as you have linked your account. To do this, click on Connect Spotify.
Unfortunately, as you have already understood, Clock does not allow you to set the classic duration, which is 25 minutes. However, it is possible to work around this by setting the timer to 45 minutes: you will get two 20-minute intervals separated by a 5-minute break. To get even closer to Cyril’s technique, you can set it to 135 minutes to take advantage of 5 sessions of 23 minutes. Once the ideal configuration has been established, click on the Start production session to start the count.
Additional Settings On Windows 11 Clock
To further customize your user experience, you can click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the first subsection and immediately after View Settings. Among the various possibilities, there is also that of deactivating the widgets that you do not use: Spotify. You can also act on system settings to change the interface theme, choose between Light or Dark, manage notifications and delete the history.
What interests us most, however, is to act on the concentration sessions, and in particular, you can:
- Adjust (also from here) the overall duration of the production period
- Set the length of the breaks to five, ten, or fifteen minutes
- Decide whether to play an end-of-session sound and decide which of the ten available options
- Decide whether to play a sound at the end of the pauses, also selecting the favorite here
For everything to work at its best, it is advisable to turn off your smartphone, keep it in airplane mode, and take a short walk during rest periods. At this point, everything should be pretty straightforward, and you have to start Clock and start planning your most essential activities using the Pomodoro method.
This will help you stay focused on your goals for long enough before taking a break – not too long but rewarding – to ease the tension a bit. To overcome the 25-minute threshold and take advantage of one of the numerous variations of this technique to increase the high productivity phases.
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