Flowtime – Best Pomodoro Alternative to Try

In this article, you’ll learn about the Flowtime time management technique, including how to successfully implement it and how it compares to the Pomodoro technique.

We all aim to be productive, but all the time management methods widely available for pretty much everyone can sometimes leave us feeling boxed in. What if you don’t want to start and stop your work at predetermined intervals, as the infamous Pomodoro time management technique suggests? What if you want to follow your own rhythm? Thankfully, we have just the right method for that. It’s called the Flowtime.

In today’s post, we’ll show you how to get into this so-called “flow” state and improve your time management skills. We’ll also compare Flowtime to the Pomodoro technique, a time management method that is known for its rigidity. Having both of these methods available in your toolkit will help you optimize your time.

What Is Flowtime?

The Flowtime technique is a time management method known for its unprecedented flexibility. Unlike structured techniques with strict intervals, such as the “20 minutes on, 5 minutes off” method, Flowtime is geared more towards personalization. Tailored to your natural work rhythms, it lets you choose when to work and when to rest.

Here’s how Flowtime works. You start a task and continue working until your concentration starts to fade. Then you take a break. And repeat. That’s it!

Flowtime doesn’t entail predetermined duration of work intervals and break times. You are free to decide on the times based on your personal needs and the task at hand. This approach encourages you to listen to your own body and mind.

What Are Flowtime Benefits?

Here are just some of the benefits the Flowtime approach offers:

• Offers great flexibility

  It doesn’t get any more flexible than Flowtime. Traditional time management methods are rather structured, and therefore they can feel overly strict. At the same time, Flowtime doesn’t set rules on your productivity. For example, you don’t have to stop if you’re engaged in productive activity at the moment and your work efficiency is high. Such a freestyle approach helps you avoid the stress of getting back on task as well as the time it usually requires to do so. You can actually adapt your work based on your energy levels and mental state. Let’s say, you feel completely depleted. You can actually choose to work in shorter increments without feeling pressured by a schedule. Such freedom helps immensely with improving employee wellbeing, leading to increased employee happiness.

• Facilitates long, uninterrupted periods of work

  Some tasks require deep focus and utmost attention. And many creative and analytical tasks, such as programming, research, and long-form writing don’t fit into neat intervals. The Flowtime approach can be invaluable in these scenarios, since it allows you to dive deeper into complex work processes without having your workflow disrupted by the beep of a timer. Flowtime is also particularly effective for project management, where brainstorming might require longer work sessions, while administrative tasks could be completed in short bursts of productivity.

• Aligns with natural rhythms

  Everyone has their own unique productivity rhythms. And while most time management methods require you to adjust your rhythm to the technique, Flowtime switches this scenario, instead adjusting to the employee’s rhythms. For example, when you’re feeling well-rested and energized, you can choose to tackle your most challenging tasks. And as you feel your drive running low, you can take a short break and then turn to some routine tasks. And you have to agree, a technique that accommodates personal employee preferences helps greatly to reduce stress and increase job satisfaction.

• Allows to personalize time management

  Customized time intervals help you to be fully in tune with your workflow. If you don’t feel comfortable working in 25-minute intervals with 5-minute breaks in-between, you can use this personalized time management technique to mix and match different work routines until you find your ideal time intervals.

• Enhances focus

  The Flowtime technique actually makes it easier for you to engage in deep work. And one of the most important factors for that is that this method allows you to take breaks as you see fit. This way, you’ll be able to fully immerse yourself in work only when your brain is fully refreshed.

• Helps with time tracking

  Seeing how mixing and matching time intervals will require you to track the time spent on tasks, you’ll get a lot of benefits that come with it. Not only will it help you improve productivity and reduce procrastination, but also it will give you a better idea of how you spend your time, helping you identify your time habits and make time estimates more accurately.

What Are Flowtime Shortcomings?

The Flowtime technique does have its advantages, and we’ve just covered the ones that stand out the most. At the same time, it does have some potential cons to consider.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to implementing the Flowtime technique:

• Sufficient planning is required on your part. This technique requires you to know your tasks in advance, estimate the time they take, and be aware of the approaching deadlines. It also requires you to effectively prioritize to-do lists based on the importance and urgency of tasks.
• Optimizing time intervals and breaks is time-consuming. Unlike other techniques, where there is a set time for work and break periods, Flowtime doesn’t actually tell you when to take a break or how long those breaks should be. Therefore, you’ll need to do some serious fine-tuning before you figure out your ideal work schedule. In short, the first few times you use the Flowtime technique, you could actually notice a drop in productivity. After all, it takes some trial and error as well as time to figure out which time frames work best for you personally.
• It may not suit chaotic schedules. If your job requires a lot of impromptu meetings and unplanned yet urgent tasks, this technique may not be for you. It’s difficult to maintain interrupted work time and planned breaks in a dynamic environment.
• There’s no structured framework to guide you. Another potential limitation of Flowtime is that it does require a high level of self-discipline. Since it’s up to you to manage your time effectively, you do need to be well-equipped in self-monitoring.
• You could fall victim to overworking. Flowtime doesn’t have a preset requirement for mandatory rest periods, and some workers may take this as their sign to take fewer breaks. Overachievers need to be vigilant not to fall into the trap of convincing themselves they’re still in a flow state and being productive when in actuality they’re setting themselves up for burnout.

Step-by-Step Guide to Flowtime

If you want to try out the Flowtime technique, here are its basic steps we recommend that you follow:

1. Pick a task. Multitasking is a no go! Instead, choose a “unitasking” approach, focusing only on one task at a time and giving it your maximum focus.
2. Write down the time you begin working. This can be done manually or with the help of dedicated time tracking software.
3. Work until you feel yourself growing tired and losing focus. Trust us, your brain will send you clear signals when you need to take a break. Some of them include feeling groggy, struggling to stay focused, feeling like you’ve been sitting for too long, or (surprisingly enough!) finally tackling another energy-consuming task.
4. Take a break. The break can last however long you need to feel rested and refreshed. Write down the exact time you went on the break, as well as the break length. As time goes by, you’ll learn just how long your active work interval should be as well as how much time you need to recharge.
5. Repeat. As you can see, this technique doesn’t come with a lot of rules, and the most important thing here is to listen to your inner voice. Ultimately, one of its biggest advantages is its simplicity.

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Pros and Cons of Flowtime vs Pomodoro

The time has finally come to compare Flowtime with Pomodoro and decide which one of these two time management methods actually suits you best. Take a look at the table below.

How to Make the Most out of the Flowtime Technique?

Now that you’ve discovered the concept of the Flowtime technique, alongside its pros and cons, and have a basic understanding of its main differences with the Pomodoro method, let’s see how you can make the most out of this technique and manage your time efficiently.

• Set yourself up for success

  A distraction-free workspace is crucial for effective implementation of the Flowtime technique. You want to feel organized and on top of your workflow. Clutter can lead to stress, which isn’t a good setup for the self-discipline that’s absolutely required to follow through with this approach.

  You’ll also need to make planning out your day part of your routine. Our tip for you here is that you start with setting intentions for what you want to accomplish by the end of the day and only then proceed to mapping out your tasks. When you start your day with focus, it will be easier for you to fall into a flow state.

• Monitor the early stages

  While you will have a plan from the very beginning of this endeavor, the first few trial runs will tell you a lot about what you actually need to make this time management method work.

  We recommend you to experiment with different Flowtime intervals to find the ones that work best for you. Even more, over time, you’ll notice patterns that’ll help you understand your natural productivity rhythms.

• Bring in tools and strategies

  Pairing Flowtime with automated tools is a winning strategy for working effectively. You can opt for a time tracking tool to measure the length of your flow states and breaks. Another type of application that can help you stay focused are various distraction blockers.

• Avoid multitasking

  Working on only one task at a time is probably the only strict rule of this technique. It may seem that doing multiple things simultaneously helps you get more done, but in actuality it’s quite the opposite. Multitasking actually leads to dispersed focus, which results in more errors and half-completed tasks.

• Remove distractions

  We feel like it’s a given, but still want to advise you to get rid of all distractions before ygettingto work. You probably already have an idea what distracts you the most, whether that’s social media or chit-chatting with your coworkers. We’ve already covered the most common workplace distractions and included actual tips on how to tackle them, and we highly recommend you to check the post for yourself.

• Use time tracking software

  To make this technique go even smoother, use top time tracking software (we' actually did an in-depth comparison of top time tracking solutions here), with Kickidler being the most prominent example of such software. When you start out with the Flowtime technique, you have to write down the exact times you start and finish working, get interrupted, etc. And you have to agree that writing down everything by hand is too time-consuming to become a properly-kept habit. Once you download Kickidler Time Tracking suite, all you have to do is define your time intervals, and you’re free to start tracking. You’ll get a notification every time you’ll need to take a break. You’ll get another notification when it’s time to start working again. This way, with the wide variety of features Kickidler offers, finding a pattern of optimal work/rest time intervals will be significantly less difficult.

Use Kickidler to optimize your time management habits

The Flowtime technique comes as a blessing for some people. You an experience the way it will refine your workflow, enhanced through digital time tracking features of Kickidler.

For example, Kickidler showcases an overview of where you spent your time during each Flowtime session. This will help you better understand your patterns when it comes to worktime.

Moreover, to help you keep an eye on your work time habits during the Flowtime session, Kickidler offers a plethora of in-depth reports on work time, some of which include:

• Activity History (helps visualize employee activity and analyze it in its entirety);
• Details of the Day (offers overview of the employee’s computer activity during each day);
• Efficiency report (displays the application usage time according to the predetermined efficiency categories, such as productive, unproductive, neutral);
• Timesheet report (displays the total amount of days and hours employees worked),
• Employee rating (ranks all employees by three types of activity – productive, unproductive, neutral).

That way, you’ll have everything you need to see if you were at your most productive during each day, as well as just how much you contributed to your company’s financial bottom line.

If you spot inconsistencies in how you spend your work hours, you can intervene timely and fix any hiccups before they turn into large-scale problems.

Enhance your time management skills with Kickidler and the Flowtime technique today!