How to Create Your Personal System for Focused Work
Escape the “procrastination trap” and create your system for focused work.
🤔 What is it?
There are numerous systems designed to help people work more effectively.
However, after testing several approaches, I—and more than 100 companies—have found the Pomodoro Technique to be the most effective for boosting focus and productivity.
I recommend creating your own personal system that enables you to focus and work effectively. It has a big impact on your performance, but also on your mental health, as being able to reach a state of focused work (“flow”) has a significant upside for your well-being.
The modern workday often feels like a constant struggle between staying on task and dealing with distractions, like social media or unprepared interruptions. This leads many to fall into cycles of procrastination, feeling overwhelmed by their to-do list.
The Pomodoro Technique offers a way out of this cycle. Developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, it’s a simple yet highly effective time management tool that breaks work into 25-minute intervals, called "Pomodoros," with short 5-minute breaks in between.
This method helps increase productivity, prevents burnout, and keeps you moving steadily toward your goals.
By using this technique, individuals and companies alike have achieved better work habits, reduced perfectionism, and seen greater results.
Complexity score (and why)
Score: 7/10
The Pomodoro Technique’s simplicity is one of its strengths, but its consistency can be difficult. The method can feel restrictive for some, but breaking your tasks into smaller chunks helps make even big projects feel manageable.
When asking your team to work on larger tasks, breaking it into these 25-minute intervals can make a huge difference.
Instead of saying, “Work on this for 4 hours,” you’re asking them to focus for just 25 minutes to start, which greatly reduces the mental hurdle.
How to implement
There are several apps you can use to implement the Pomodoro Technique, and you can customize the length of each interval to suit your preferences.
For most, a 25-minute work period with a short break works best, but some may prefer 30-60-minute intervals.
For yourself: Implement the technique during your deep work sessions, such as from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Rather than expecting yourself to sit for hours working, use Pomodoros to break the session into manageable blocks. Remember to take breaks to avoid burnout.
For others: Be flexible when introducing the technique to your team. Lead by example, sharing best practices. Some roles, like tech developers, may find the method easier to implement than others, such as customer service managers, who may deal with shorter, more immediate tasks.
Tailor your approach based on the team’s responsibilities and workflow.
I recall when writing my first book, The Paradox of Plenty, I did most of my writing from 5:00 am to 9:00 am, the time when I felt most creative.
Using Pomodoros helped me break the daunting task of writing into smaller pieces, which made all the difference and prevented burnout.
The key is flexibility and sharing your experience with the technique to help your team adopt it in a way that suits their tasks and preferences.

It worked great! However, it is not always suitable for an open office with many employees. Unless you keep it on silent mode.
Read before you implement
Implementing this with a team or company requires a holistic view of your employees and overall goals. I recommend considering all aspects of the possible consequences versus the upsides when implementing this tool. The benefits are huge if done correctly.
Want help implementing the tool?
Reach out to me on LinkedIn or get your free introduction call via my website www.casperbrix.com.
I would love to help you get the right things done - by doing less.
How do you escape the “procrastination trap”? Hit me up in the comments! :)
Talk to you soon 👋
Casper
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The Effectivity Playbook: My toolbox with the 20 most popular effectivity tools (incl. implementation guides)
First Book ai: Write your first book in days, not years, with our AI platform (used by +300 authors)
Effectivity coaching: Helping business leaders and teams reclaim 50% of their time in just 30 days
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