Pomodoro Technique - Increase Your Poker Productivity!

There was a time when most people thought "procrastination" was an embarrassing medical exam. Then the internet became very popular and while it was supposed to "set us free" it was also great at rewiring our brains reward pathways.

Nowadays everyone is used to instant gratification that's so brilliantly provided by the multitude of different apps and social media pages. Procrastination is a new plague and it affects a large percentage of people spending most of their days behind a computer screen - poker players included.

Since working smart is much more important than working hard in this article we're going to talk about a brilliant little tool called the "Pomodoro Technique" that can enhance your productivity and help you tame your procrastination demons.

What is Pomodoro Technique

Pomodoro Technique is a time management tool developed by Francesco Cirillo in the eighties, that revolves around breaking down the task into a 25 minute intervals followed by a short break.

The name of the technique originated from the fact that the kitchen timer Cirillo used to track the time intervals had a shape of a tomato. Here's how the technique works:

• Pick a task you'd like to complete.
• Set the timer for 25 minutes.
• Work on the task (and only that task!) until the timer rings.
• After you hear the timer ring put a checkmark on a piece of paper in order to track the number of "Pomodoros".
• If there are less than 4 of these checkmarks on the piece of paper take a short break (5 minutes). Take a longer break (10-20 minutes) every 4 "Pomodoros".

First of all, the 25-minute interval is just long enough to put in some meaningful work no matter the type of task but just short enough that even in the world of instant gratification we can convince ourselves to spend it on a single assignment with no interruptions. Second of all frequent breaks can help us refresh our mind during difficult tasks and even allow for some planned procrastination in between the "Pomodoro" intervals.

While a quick look at Twitter or Facebook isn't exactly the best way to spend your break studies show that allowing for small windows of "planned procrastination" can be much more effective than trying to quit "cold turkey" due to the existence of a mechanism called "ego depletion".

One last thing, you don't have to buy a kitchen timer (and it certainly doesn't have to have a shape of a tomato) but the physical act of winding the timer is more meaningful than using an app or a website, and since poker is so tied to the digital world anyway, it might be a good idea to start introducing more analog elements into your environment.

Pomodoro Technique in Poker Education

Now that you know the basics of the technique let's discuss how to best use it when it comes to poker. Every form of poker education can be enhanced by the Pomodoro technique be it watching a coaching video, reading a book, using forums or better yet something complex like database analysis.

Cutting down on the interruptions will enhance the quality of your poker education and introducing a new time management technique into your routine can help with motivation especially when you realize how good it is at solving the procrastination problem. The small 25-minute work interval allows you to track how much time you're spending on a certain task and improve your efficiency.

25-minute interval doesn't really enable you to waste a lot of time while watching a video or discussing strategy in a Line Check forum section, but it can prevent you from losing focus during more complex tasks like database analysis which could lead to inefficient use of your time.

Pomodoro Technique in Gameplay

Depending on your preferred poker format you might not be able to use Pomodoro technique effectively (playing poker in 25-minute intervals isn't really practical for multi-table tournaments, or regular cash games), but if you're able to do it, it will work like an absolute charm.

Zoom cash game players and hyper turbo tournamententhusiasts can greatly benefit from playing their sessions in intense 25-minute intervals followed by a planned 5-minute break. It's an amazing way of maximizing the amount of time you're able to stay in your a-game especially if you decide to use your 5-minute break to do some mindful breathing exercises or meditation.

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