I Tried the Pomodoro Technique, and It Helped Me Declutter My Closet in 2 Hours
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A friend of mine, who is also a freelance writer, swears by the Pomodoro technique. The idea is that you work on a task for 25 minutes and then take a break for five minutes. You repeat this four times, before you take a longer break (15 to 30 minutes) and then continue your work. Sounds easy enough, right? Despite their rave reviews, I put off trying it for ages. Looking back, this was silly because my friend was right the whole time — it really does work.
I tested out the productivity method by decluttering the one space I’d made a point to never show anyone: my guest room closet. Just like hyper-organized Monica in Friends, I don’t really have a junk drawer as much as a junk closet. It’s where everything that doesn’t have a dedicated home goes to, and it’s been my secret stressor for months.
In total, the decluttering took me one hour and 45 minutes, or three-and-a-half Pomodoros. I honestly didn’t know I could complete such an undertaking so quickly; I ended up triple-checking the time. Here’s what I learned from the experience.
The 25-minute spurts challenged me to go faster.
While decluttering, I subconsciously ended up thinking of the Pomodoro technique as a game: What’s the maximum number of cycles necessary to clean out my closet? Any time I thought about breaking the rules, I reminded myself that I’d just be adding another Pomodoro to my tab.
The breaks gave me something to look forward to.
My uncle once told me that everyone is motivated by something — even if it’s just being able to stop — and he’s so right. Instead of checking my Instagram every five minutes out of boredom, I was able to stay focused because I knew I’d be able to pause and use my phone soon enough.
Five minutes is more than enough.
Five minutes doesn’t sound like a lot of time, and it’s not, but I didn’t actually need or crave a longer break than that. After 25 minutes dedicated to just decluttering, I’d earned my five-minute break — I wasn’t breaking my focus or stressing about what I “should” be doing like usual. In fact, because I was able to make so much progress after just one Pomodoro, I was motivated to keep going.
Breaking up a big task makes it manageable.
Prior to trying the Pomodoro technique, I’d found myself feeling intimidated by my guest room closet. The thing is, I was intimidated because I always imagined myself cleaning it out all at once over half a day. This productivity method was the perfect reminder that an elephant can only be eaten one bite at a time, but that doesn’t mean you won’t finish it.
I’m better at procrastinating than I am at multi-tasking.
I’d always considered myself a pro multi-tasker, but I’m pretty sure I was just in denial. Knowing now how long this took me versus what I expected, the truth is that I’ve wasted a mortifying amount of hours over the years. I never considered that every time you break your focus, you have to rebuild it again.
