Oh, Hello Brains! I just finished a Pomodoro. What is a Pomodoro? That’s a great question. According to our How to ADHD Dictionary… A pomodoro, (n.) is a short, timed interval during which you work on what you intended to work on, And only what you intended to work on -- until the timer goes off, at which point you take a break. See also: monotasking. The term is based on a traditional kitchen timer, which looks like a tomato -- or, pomodoro if you speak Italian -- and it was coined by Francesco Cirillo, who came up with the idea when he was a university student struggling to stay focused. ...Which might be why a lot of people with ADHD use pomodoros. Trouble staying focused is kind of our thing. Sometimes we take forever to get started, sometimes we keep thinking of other things that we needed to do and doing them instead. Starting a pomodoro gives us a clear signal to start working, and stay focused while we work -- we’re still going to think of other things we need to do, but during a pomodoro, instead of going to do those things, we write them down and keep working on the thing we intended to work on. Until the timer goes off, which gives us a clear signal it’s ok to take a break! Francesco actually built a whole time management tool around this concept - appropriately, it’s called the pomodoro technique, and you can check it out here -- it involves breaking projects down into a series of 25 minute pomodoros, tracking those pomodoros, and using them to plan ahead -- but like most strategies, it’s not inherently ADHD friendly, so the brains I spoke to who use it have adjusted it to work for them. But a lot of Brains use pomodoros independently of the pomodoro technique, in whatever way makes sense for them. Some use a pomodoro to help them get focused on things their brain doesn’t want to do, then just keep working when they get into flow, because they find the breaks more distracting than helpful. Other people use a pomodoro to make themselves take breaks from something their brain does want to do, like playing video games, so they can practice self care in between pomodoros. Some people do mini pomodoros …like 10 minutes focusing, then a 3 minute break. One even does reverse pomodoros ..a short time focusing with a longer break. Real tomatoes come in all shapes and sizes; why not pomodoros? So if we’re having trouble getting started on something, we might ask ourselves -- do I need a pomodoro? If we think of something else we need to do during the pomodoro we can remind ourselves -- nope, I’m pomodoro-ing, write the idea down, and get back to work. If we need a little extra help staying focused, we might ask a body double to pomodoro with us. If someone asks us to do something that isn’t the thing we’re doing, we can let them know -- “I’m in the middle of a pomodoro.” And If someone says they’re in the middle of a pomodoro you LEAVE THEM ALONE. Pomodoros are fragile. We must protect them. So, now if someone says “I’m off to do a Pomodoro” you’ll know that they aren’t just going to go eat a Tomato! And if your friends get confused when you start a Pomodoro, feel free to send them this video! I’d like to thank all of our supporters on Patreon, especially our Brain Advocates. Because of your support we get to produce content that helps all of us understand and communicate our needs. Let me know how you use pomodoros in the comments below and I will see you next week! I am going to use the rest of my break to go get some water. Bye Brains.