Over the past several months I was struggling with writer’s block. Everything I tried to write crumbled like wet paper. Recently, I came to realize the reason for my writer’s block, and the means of fixing it.

Writing a story can be quite a task, especially if it’s a novel. You could end up spending three months to a year writing a novel. The enormity of the task can be overwhelming. I found even the task of sitting down for a few hours to work on a story to be overwhelming at times.

Then I discovered the Pomodoro Technique, the method that turns time into your ally, breaking it down into manageable chunks. The technique is simple:

Step One: Pick a task (in this case it’d be writing).

Step Two: Write for twenty-five minutes straight.

Step Three: Take a five minute break.

Step Four: Repeat four times.

Step Five: Take a thirty minute break.

Keep in mind, you don’t have to follow the process stringently if you don’t want to. For instance, you could break your twenty-five minute sessions throughout the day in any way you want. Instead of sitting down before my notebook thinking to myself, “I’m going to write an entire story,” or “I’m going to write for four hours,” I said to myself, “Let’s go for twenty-five minutes and see what we can get down on paper.” Twenty-five minutes didn’t overwhelm me in the way four continuous hours would have. I could manage twenty-five minutes. After my five minute break, it was easy to say to myself, “Hey, I can do another twenty-five minutes, can’t I?” I sure could. It’s a simple psychological trick that gets you focusing on each tree one at a time as opposed to the enormity of the forest. If you’re stuck in the rut of writer’s block for similar reasons, I highly recommend the Pomodoro Technique. It’s a great way to build a writing routine for yourself, and the fun quotient increases as well.