Speaker 1: How many times have you tried the Pomodoro Technique and find out that you still hadn't made the progress that you initially had envisioned? Let me tell you why the Pomodoro Technique isn't working for you, and I'll give you a better solution. If you clicked on this video, you most likely have tried the Pomodoro Technique or at least have heard of it. But as we'll cover today, the Pomodoro Technique does have its flaws, but it can be improved on, and I believe I have the solution. It's called Progressive Pomodoro. TM. Patent pending. In this video, you'll learn about Progressive Pomodoro and how to quickly integrate it into your workflow. From now on, I'm going to be addressing the original Pomodoro Technique as OG Pomo. Boo. And the new Progressive flavor as Progressive Pomo. Just clarifying that. It's cool. Now that's out of the way. If you're like me, you want to get the most out of your day. You want to get things done and you want to feel accomplished. If you think about it, what you really want is flow. However, OG Pomo doesn't do the best job at getting you there. First, let's quickly summarize what OG Pomo is and what it does bring to the table. OG Pomo is an alternating focus and rest cycle. 25 minutes of focus followed by a 5-minute break. Repeat. Also, at every fourth cycle, you take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. The main benefit of OG Pomo is its simplicity, and it's a pretty decent way to get you into focus. But as I said, there is room for improvement. And I've come up with a game-changing tweak that gets me into flow every single time without fail. It comes down to this. The alleged strength of OG Pomo is actually its biggest flaw. And that is the 25-minute block. 25 minutes can feel unbearably long or way too short. For instance, I tend to procrastinate way more with OG Pomo. Because I find myself waiting until I'm fully mentally prepared to enter that 25-minute block. I can think of plenty of scenarios where this is the case. Just after waking up. After a heavy meal. It's Monday. It's Tuesday. Caffeine crash. Too much caffeine. Switching from one context to the other. Switching from one context to the other. Or some combination of these. We're not machines. And unfortunately, focus is not an on and off switch. It takes time to build. Just ask my super smart friend, Andrew Huberman.

Speaker 2: None of us, however, should be expected to just sit down and drop directly into a state of focus. There's a gradual dropping into any state. Your focus is dynamic. It is not what we call a step function. It's not like you go from unfocused to focused, and then you drop into your maximum focus. Focus. Focus. Focus.

Speaker 1: On the flip side, 25 minutes can be too short. Imagine you're in a focus block doing some deep work, and you've caught some flow. Then the timer rings. Ugh. 25 minutes is up. According to OG Pomo, you have to stop and take a break. What? Take a break? That sounds kind of broke to me. For the most part, walking out on flow can only hurt your momentum. If you're like me, you love being in flow. Flow is where you get the best work done. And it also feels incredible. And I believe this is the very state that we should be optimizing for. This is where the magic happens. And that's what Progressive Pomo is all about. Let's dive into it. But first, like this video and leave a comment letting me know what you do to build flow. And maybe I give these a try and feature them in a future video. First, let's go over the main goal of Progressive Pomodoro. And that is to actively cultivate the flow state. Actively cultivate the flow state. So the goal is flow. And as we've already covered, flow is built up gradually. Thus, you need a system that similarly builds up gradually. Hence, Progressive Pomo.

Speaker 2: By understanding that you are going to be continually going in and out of progressively but varying levels of focus, you will greatly release the pressure on yourself to feel focused all the time when you want to be.

Speaker 1: Step 1. Start small and get moving. The difference here is that when you start a focus block, instead of using 25 minutes, you'll use a time that is proportional to your current focus and motivation level. What does that mean? Well, let's say you're starting your work for the day. Your motivation is probably really low. In that case, maybe your focus block is just 5 minutes. 5 minutes? 5 minutes is nothing, you say. That's the point. At this moment in time, your only mission is to start. The lower the barrier to entry, the better. That shorter time commitment increases the probability that you'll actually start your work. In other words, 5 minutes is better than 25 minutes when it comes to starting. So for step number 1, start with shorter focus blocks and prioritize getting yourself moving. Step 2. Rate your focus. After each work block, reflect on your focus. Ask yourself, how focused am I at this point? To keep it simple, I use 4 ratings. Distracted. Okay. Highly focused. And of course, flow. This reflection step is the secret sauce of why progressive POMO works. Why? Because the rating determines if you take a break or not. Which brings me to the third step. Break or extend. In OG POMO, after each work block, you always take a short break. But in progressive POMO, you skip that break if you're already flowing. The motto is, if you're flowing, keep on flowing. Else, if you're not flowing, feel free to take that break. And if you do have to take that break, which is okay, there is one more step. Step 4. Adjust. Before you start your next work block, you get to decide how long you want it to be. You'll use a time that is proportional to your current focus and motivation level. Based on your focus rating, you can choose to increase, decrease, or stay the same. Remember, the point here is progression. So if you feel like your momentum is building, feel free to increase the next block. Let's say from 5 to 10 minutes. Or 10 to 15 minutes. So in a nutshell, progressive POMO is all about building your motivation and focus levels iteratively. And being okay with starting small. Let's see what a basic progression looks like. You start your day with a simple 5-minute work block. After that session, you find that you're feeling a little distracted. You're just starting to get warmed up. So you opt for a shorter work block with a deeper intent to focus. 3 minutes sounds about right. After those 3 minutes, you're actually slightly more focused. After a short work break, you decide that you're going to increase your next work block from 3 minutes to 10 minutes. And you're feeling highly focused.

Speaker 2: Again, you take a break.

Speaker 1: And after, you decide to stretch from 10 minutes to 20 minutes. 20 minutes go by and you barely notice. Because you've caught flow. 20 minutes is over, the timer goes off, and there's only one thing for you to do. If you're flowing, keep on flowing. You can see the focus building starting to take its shape. So the main idea behind progressive POMO is to start small. And attempt to increase your focus blocks until you reach flow state. Then, stay there for as long as you can. Progressive POMO improves on OG POMO in 3 major ways. 1. It's adaptable and flexible. 2. It reduces procrastination by lowering the barrier to entry. Which increases the probability that you'll actually start your work. And 3. It actively cultivates the flow state. I want to close off this video with some key action items that I can give you so you can integrate this right away. I've got 3 tips for you. Please don't skip on these. First, avoid getting crazy with your setup. All you really need is a timer and the habit to rate your focus level after each work block. Step 2. Keep your ratings honest. It's okay to realize you're distracted and notice that you're not as focused as you want to be. The system is designed to accommodate for this. Trust it. I constantly find myself going between distracted into highly focused or okay focus into flow. So just expect yourself to hop around. And lastly and most importantly, start small. I usually start with 5 minute blocks. But if I'm feeling especially lethargic and unmotivated, I will dip down all the way to 2 minutes. I think anyone can endure almost anything for 2 minutes. The rule of thumb here is, the more resistance you feel there is to start, the shorter your focus block should be. If you've been using Pomodoro for a while, using the 25 minute blocks, this could be a little challenging. But I promise you, the small change makes a big difference. So get out there, start some sessions, and let me know how it's going on for you. Remember to like this video and subscribe for more videos about moves, tools, and mindsets to become a more effective person. Until next time, thanks for watching.