The Pomodoro technique for studying, and what to do in the break

How the Pomodoro technique works

Francesco Cirillo created the technique and named it after his tomato-shaped kitchen timer ("pomodoro" is Italian for tomato). Pick one task. Set a timer for 25 minutes and work only on that task until it rings. Take a short break. After four rounds, take a longer one.

That's it. The magic is in the limit. "Study for 25 minutes" is easy to start. "Study all afternoon" is not. Any timer will do; we compare a few in the best Pomodoro apps.

Does the Pomodoro technique work for studying?

There's good evidence that it helps. In a 2023 study at Maastricht University, 87 students studied with one of three break styles: Pomodoro-style breaks (24 minutes on, 6 off), shorter fixed breaks, or breaks whenever they felt like it.

The students who chose their own breaks felt more tired and distracted, and less focused and motivated. All three groups finished the same amount of work, so the fixed-break groups did it in less time.

It was a one-day study, so it isn't the final word. But it matches what many students find: deciding when to stop is tiring in itself. Let the timer decide.

Why the break is where it fails

A break on your phone feels like rest. It usually isn't.

In a Rutgers experiment with 414 people, participants solved puzzles, took a break, then solved more. Those who spent the break on their phone did worse afterwards than those who took the same break on paper or on a computer.

There's a second trap. Nir Eyal warns about the in-between moments, when you move from one activity to the next. That's when distraction is most likely to win. A Pomodoro break is exactly that kind of moment, and you get one every half hour.

What to do in five minutes

Pick something that takes you away from screens and back into your body. Stand up and stretch. Get water. Look out of a window at something far away. Take three slow breaths, each with a long breath out. Then write one line: the first thing you'll do when the timer starts.

Match the block to the task, too. 25 minutes suits reading, flashcards and anything you've been avoiding. 45 to 50 suits problem sets or essays, which take a while to get going.

A 2022 review of 22 studies found that the longer the break, the bigger the boost to performance, so after a tough 50-minute block, give yourself ten minutes or more.

When you don’t want to start the next one

Sometimes the break ends and everything in you wants to do anything else. That isn't laziness. It's a feeling, and usually a specific one: bored, stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure you can do it.

Name it in one word, then deal with that feeling for two minutes, not the whole task. Bored? Set a ten-minute challenge. Overwhelmed? Write the one next step. Doubting yourself? Remember the last time you got through something like this. Each feeling is explained in why we doomscroll.

That's the moment CatchScroll was built for: tap the feeling, take a two-minute reset, and you're back in your next block. For the rest of a good routine, see how to focus while studying on a laptop.

So, what will you do in your next five-minute break?