The Tomato Practice Plan

By Anne Sullivan 

Here’s a crazy idea: you could make your practice time better with a tomato, I don’t mean an actual tomato, but I mean a super-charged time management technique named after a tomato. It’s called the Pomodoro technique, and it was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Because Cirillo’s timer was shaped like a tomato, and pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato, the technique became called the “Pomodoro” technique. 

The basic premise is that short intense bursts of focused work will help you stay mentally alert and prevent burnout and fatigue so you can work more effectively and productively. It’s perfect for focused practice.

Here’s how to use it to supercharge your practice:

1. Start by writing down everything you want to practice today.
2. Then organize it into “sets” that you estimate will take about 25 minutes to accomplish. Each set is called a “pomodoro.”
3. Set your timer for 25 minutes.
4. Practice your first pomodoro until the timer rings. 
5. After the timer rings, check off the items you practiced in that Pomodoro on your paper or in your practice journal.
6. Take a short break of 3–5 minutes, then go to step 3 and repeat the procedure with your next Pomodoro set.

You will likely find that 2 pomodoro sessions will be at least as productive as one one-hour session. And pomodoros give you the flexibility to use shorter blocks of time too, if that’s all you have available. If you need to make your pomodoros shorter than 25 minutes, that’s fine, but resist the temptation to make them longer. The quick break every 25 minutes will help you bring fresh focus to your next session.

I don’t use pomodoros every time I practice, but they are really helpful when I don’t have much time and I want to do focused work. My timer isn’t shaped like a tomato though; it’s a little statue of Mozart!