If you’ve struggled with procrastination and searched for methods to conquer it, or if you want to maximize your production and dug into various productivity methods, there’s a good chance you’ve come across the Pomodoro Technique. People rave about it, I can’t stand it.

Developed in the 1980s by a university student named Francesco Cirillo, the method utilizes quick bursts of productivity to tackle tasks. The gist is you set a timer for 25 minutes and work exclusively on a task for that time. When the timer goes off, reward yourself with a two to five-minute break. Then repeat. After four 25-minute work sessions, take a longer 15 to 30-minute break. The idea is if you’re dreading a task or finding it hard to focus, committing to just 25 minutes is enough to get you started or even complete a task.

The Good Bits of Pomodoro

For individuals trying to establish a workout habit, the Pomodoro Technique rings similar to the advice to commit to simply tying your shoes or doing a bit of the workout. Instead of running your scheduled two miles, commit to just a quarter mile. At the end of that short commitment you’ll either be finished and managed to get something done, or you’ll feel motivated to go the full distance.

Admittedly, this “commit to a bit” tactic is great for getting the ball rolling and one that I capitalize on numerous times during busy weeks, however, I believe there are flaws in relying on the Pomodoro Technique daily, specifically due to the constant interruption.

The Problem With Pomodoro

“Deep work” is a term coined by Cal Newport, a computer scientist, professor, and prolific author. Newport argues that individuals do their best work when allowed to deeply focus on the task at hand. Additionally, it’s this work produced during fully-focused work sessions that make the most impact. A plethora of research supports this argument and even proves how we lose seconds and bits of concentration when interrupted. Those seconds add up.

So, if you’re working on something that requires concentration and deep focus, say writing, or studying for a test, having a bell ding every 25 minutes to indicate you should take a break hinders flow and interrupts thoughts. It takes a moment to get back into focus, and, sometimes you may even lose your trail of thought. I know this because I have a living Pomodoro timer in the form of my two-year-old. Even if you silence the alarm and skip the break, those few seconds of making that decision pulled away from your focus.

What to do instead?

Writer Bryan Collins suggests in his Forbes article “The Pomodoro Technique Explained” that individuals can customize the length of working and break time. For example, committing to an hour of writing time with a five-minute break. That’s a great solution and one I plan on trying.

Unfortunately, the alarm dinging will still disturb any built-up focus. My suggestion? Try a hacked version, one without the alarm. Say it’s the end of a long day but you promised yourself you’d work on your novel daily. Sit down at your computer and decide to work for fifteen minutes. It’s only fifteen minutes, remind yourself. It’s doable and better than not working at all.

At the top of your word processor document or on a digital Post-Its desktop app (I have one labeled TIMER for this purpose and for tracking work time), type out the current time. Then get to work.

At some point, you’ll naturally lose momentum and check the time, if you’re still under fifteen minutes get back to it. If you’ve crossed the threshold, great! Close the document, pat yourself on the back, and move on with your life, or perhaps now you have some momentum and continue writing, much like the aforementioned exercise advice.

One might argue that doesn’t this glance at the time interrupt flow? No, not like an alarm dinging off in the middle of the sentence. When we work there are natural breaks in our thought process. Moments, when we’ve written the words we have in our brains at the moment and nothing else, is tumbling out or we’ve looked over a page or slide. Some sort of natural pause in the workflow. It’s this time you’ll take a deep breath, take a sip of water, or look for a distraction such as checking the time or your phone. (See if you notice this natural break next time you’re working).

What’s the Best Technique?

At the end of the day, you need to use whatever productivity methods work for you. Don’t be afraid to try new techniques, but if it feels like a poor fit, don’t force it—let it go or try to hack it to work better for you.

Nothing is a magic bullet, you’ll still need to do the work if you want to see results, but I would argue a good method and routine helps boost willpower when we’re running on empty. And, if you’re a fan of the Pomodoro Technique to the point that you have a favorite tomato timer, that’s great! I’ll be over here noting my time on digital post-its.