Since February is National Time Management Month, it’s time to dive into the Pomodoro Technique with a side of Time Boxing.

Hands down The Pomodoro Technique® is the very best tool in my focus toolbox. The technique was created by an Italian guy named Francesco Cirillo with a tomato-shaped kitchen timer (“pomodoro” is Italian for “tomato”). He’d set the timer for 25 minutes and focus on ONE TASK… just ONE… for the entire 25 minutes. He’d block out calls, emails, dings, dongs and doorbells. When the timer went off, he’d take a 5-minute break to catch up on other things, then dive back into another 25-minute stretch.