The ‘Animedoro’ Method Can Make You More Productive While Giving You More Downtime

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The Pomodoro technique is one of the most established and oft-recommended productivity methods, praised for its effectiveness and simplicity: It combines time for deep work with periods of reward, and the mix proves effective for many because deep work and breaks are both crucial elements to getting things done.

The popularity of Pomodoro has also inspired offshoots that iterate on its philosophies, and one of them might hold particular appeal if you like to relax after completing a task by watching TV. It's called "animedoro," and if the name reminds you of Japanese cartoons, there's a reason for that.

What is the animedoro productivity method?

Animedoro was created by a med student named Josh Chen, who four years ago uploaded a video explaining how, over the course of four months, he was able to study for 600 hours and still watch 300 hours of anime. In simple terms, his technique is a variation on the Pomodoro method, which involves working for 25 minutes, breaking for five minutes, and working for another 25 minutes, and so on. The original Pomodoro schedule provides a longer break after the fourth work session—but following animedoro, you’ll switch things up a bit. Using Chen’s model, you’ll work for 40 to 60 minutes at a time, then give yourself a 20-minute break to watch an episode of a TV show (or whatever else you want to do to reset). 

In this way, animedoro is similar to flowtime, which is a technique where you spend time determining exactly what work-to-break ratio works for you. While Pomodoro is widely seen as the best option, since you get small breaks and a solid amount of time to focus and work, no method is one-size-fits-all. It may be that to achieve a state of deep work, you need to put in more than 25 minutes of effort. It may also be the case that five minutes of downtime to scroll your phone or refill your drink just isn’t enough to motivate you. Animedoro is a good option in either case, since it gives you longer periods to study or grind, plus more involved break periods. 

But like I said, this method was conceptualized by a regular student, someone no different than you or me. Pomodoro, too, was founded by a student named Francisco Cirillo. You, like Chen and Cirillo, can mess with the timing of your work sessions and breaks until you find exactly what works for you. I recommend using a productivity timer app, like FocusPomo, because you can set different lengths of work sessions. If the times suggested here aren't working for you, do your own thing. Scheduling and committing to your work and your breaks is valuable, so don't give up if 25 on and five off aren't cutting it.

How to try out the animedoro method

As with the traditional Pomodoro technique, the real key to success is making effective use of your work periods. Knowing you have 20 minutes with your favorite show on the horizon can be a nice motivator, provided you can stick to the plan of working without distractions for the 40 or 60 minutes of focus time. Put your phone aside, don’t check any other tasks or notifications, and immerse yourself fully in the one thing you need to do. (This is where an app like FocusPomo shines, as it will block you from using other apps as soon as you start a focus session.) This isn’t a time for multitasking: Pick one activity and singularly focus on it for the entire work period. After an episode of Blue Eye Samurai, you can select a different task in your next 40- to 60-minute chunk.

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