Tell me if this sounds familiar:

You hear about a productivity tool.
Time-blocking. The Pomodoro Technique. A morning routine. Batch processing.

You try that tool exactly as described. But it doesn't work.

So you assume you're not disciplined enough or trying hard enough… that you’re doing it wrong.

But here's what actually happened: The tool came without the instruction manual.

Sure it told you what to do—but not why it works, or how to adjust it for your brain, your body, or your life.

Let’s take the Pomodoro Technique as an example:

You've probably heard of it: Work for 25 minutes, break for 5, repeat.

Simple, right? Except... why 25 minutes?

Most people can't tell you. That’s just "the rule."

Here's what got misunderstood:

25 minutes is a starting point. A recommendation.

Francesco Cirillo (who created Pomodoro in the 1980s) used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer and found that 25 minutes helped him with focus and reducing stress. That's it. That's the origin story.

The principle of Pomodoro isn't "work exactly 25 minutes."

The principle is timeboxing and spaced rest aka honor your natural focus and rest cycles.

Now ask yourself: What time length improves focus, productivity, and reduces stress FOR YOU?

You might not know, and that’s okay! You get to find out.

You're not broken.
Hell, the tool itself isn't even broken.
The system was.

Without the instruction manual to adapt the tool, here's what gets left out:

Your brain operates on ultradian rhythms—approximately 90 to 120-minute cycles throughout the day where your focus, energy, and alertness rise and fall.

The Basic Rest-Activity Cycle (BRAC), described by sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitman in the 1960s, gives us a framework to help us uncover our unique rhythms.

Within each cycle, you’ll have periods of high focus and periods where your brain needs to rest to prevent fatigue.

Different brains have different cycles.

Some people can hyperfocus for 90 minutes straight before needing a break.
Others need a break every 30 minutes.

Neither is wrong—they're just different rhythms.

For years, I thought I was bad at Pomodoro.

Everyone said 25 minutes work, 5 minutes rest.
But every time I tried it, I'd get interrupted right when I was hitting my stride.
It felt like stopping a car at every green light.

Then I tracked my actual focus patterns.

Turns out, my brain (hello, ADHD hyperfocus) naturally works in 45-minute intervals. Sometimes 60. Sometimes even 90 if I'm really in flow.

By adjusting Pomodoro to match my rhythm: 45 minutes of work, 10-15 minute break. Suddenly, "Pomodoro" worked.

Not because I got better at discipline. But because I stopped using someone else's system.

In practice, much of productivity advice gives you:

Implementations (do this specific thing.)
Without teaching you principles (here's why it works and how to adapt it.)

Once you understand the principles, you can adjust the implementations to fit your wiring.

Time-blocking doesn't have to be rigid 30-minute chunks. Maybe yours are flexible 2-hour windows with buffer time.

Morning routines don't have to be at 5am if you're a night owl. Maybe yours happens at 8am. Or noon.

Batching doesn't have to mean "do all emails at once" if your brain needs variety. Maybe you batch by energy type instead of task type.

Same principles.
Different implementations.
Built around how you actually work.

This week, pay attention:

When do you naturally lose focus? When do you need a break?

Don't force 25-minute intervals.
Don't fit someone else's template.
Just notice your rhythm.

Do this for a few days. See what patterns emerge.

If you already track time for work, look for the average length you track for entries on focus projects and tasks. Here’s an example of my Thursday morning focus work:

You might discover you're a 30-minute person.
Or a 60-minute person.
Or a 90-minute person.
Or (like me) it varies between depending on the day and where I’m at in my cycle.

No judgment. Just witnessing.

Want a short cut to figuring out your daily energy rhythms?

That's what my Energy Alignment Intensives are designed for. In this 90-minute session, we'll map your natural daily energy cycle, review your calendar together to make alignments, and set you up with a 2 week experiment to refine your energy with your new system. It's like getting a mini custom energy blueprint plus clarity on your next right step. Book your intensive here.