Multitasking can feel productive, especially when deadlines pile up. Many students try to juggle school, activities, and social media all at once. But multitasking often leads to mental fatigue, missed details, and lost time.
The brain is not wired to do multiple demanding tasks at the same time. Switching between tasks takes energy and reduces accuracy. This is one reason why students struggle with multitasking. Conversely, according to Harvard Health, monotasking, which is the Pomodoro's primary power, allows for deeper focus and better information retention.
The Pomodoro Timer Method is a time management technique that uses short, timed work sessions followed by short breaks. Each work session is called a "Pomodoro," which means "tomato" in Italian. The name comes from a tomato-shaped kitchen timer used by its creator, Francesco Cirillo, in the late 1980s.
A standard Pomodoro cycle includes:
- 25-minute work sessions focused on a single task
- 5-minute breaks between sessions
- A longer 15-30 minute break after completing four Pomodoros
This method helps students, remote workers, and people with attention challenges manage their time better. It creates clear boundaries between work and rest periods, making it easier to focus on one task at a time.
Using an aesthetic timer like a pomodoro timer for focus works because it matches how our brains naturally manage attention. Research shows we focus better in short bursts rather than long marathons. By using an aesthetic timer to keep us visually calm and on track with a timer, we can use this natural rythhym to boost productivity. When you set a timer, you make a mental commitment to focus only on that task until the timer rings. This psychological contract helps your brain stay on track.
In fact a study by Lancaster University found that students trying to manage technology-based multi-tasking saw increased focus when using a pomodoro timer.
An aesthetic timer can also reduce decision fatigue. Instead of constantly deciding when to take breaks or switch tasks, the Pomodoro structure makes these decisions for you, while the visually appealing timer keeps your digital space clean and unclutter. This saves mental energy for your actual work.
Breaking work into 25-minute chunks makes large projects less overwhelming. Even difficult assignments feel more manageable when divided into focused sessions with breaks in between.
Knowing a break is coming soon (the anticipation effect) helps you push through distractions. Your brain finds it easier to ignore interruptions when it knows relief is just minutes away.
Beforefive is an AI website blocker that uses the task you have set to block websites in your focus session. Instead of relying on static lists to block websites, Beforefive turns your to-dos into the anchors for blocking websites. By combining mono-tasking with adaptive website blocking, Beforefive is helps people set their intentions and clearly focus on their tasks, while also providing supervision to ensure they stay on track. Beforefive also include an in-built aesthetic pomodoro timer to help user keep track of their tasks and keep them focused.