I remember a typical morning in our CERT team: a hundred alerts were already piling up in the SIEM console, my phone was flashing with urgent messages, and a critical incident report still needed to be finalized. Staying focused in this chaos was a constant challenge.
It was in this high-pressure context that I decided to experiment with the Pomodoro Technique to better manage my time and energy. I’d like to share a field experience on applying this time management method within a CERT/CSIRT environment, with concrete examples of its use in alert triage, report writing, crisis handling, and continuous learning.
The tone will be intentionally operational and grounded in the real-world experience of a SOC/CERT analyst.
Context: operational pressure and constant interruptions Working in a SOC or CERT means operating in a constant stream of events and demands. Analysts must prioritize a wide range of tasks in real time, from reviewing security alerts to proactively hunting threats, ensuring the most critical issues are handled first. The information overload makes time management a crucial skill to avoid being overwhelmed.
Yet, operational security is full of unpredictability. A new priority alert can drop at any time, a colleague might interrupt for input, not to mention impromptu crisis meetings. We are constantly interrupted: studies have shown it takes over 20 minutes to fully refocus after an interruption, while we’re typically disturbed every 10 minutes. Without a strategy, we never reach optimal concentration, leading to fatigue and stress. I personally felt this constant fragmentation of time, where my days were broken into countless short work intervals due to interruptions.
Faced with this, I realized I had to actively protect my focus time. No one else would do it for me: no colleague is going to say, “I’ll wait 30 minutes for you to finish before reaching out.”
So I looked for ways to create those essential focus bubbles despite the turbulent environment. That’s how I returned to the Pomodoro Technique I had used in previous jobs, wondering how to adapt it to a CERT/CSIRT reality.
Principle of the Pomodoro Technique The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo.
Its principle is simple: work is split into 25-minute focus sessions, called Pomodoros, followed by 5-minute breaks. After four Pomodoros, a longer break (15 to 20 minutes) is taken to recharge. The name Pomodoro (tomato in Italian) comes from the tomato-shaped kitchen timer Cirillo used.
The method involves five classic steps: Choose a task to accomplish – ideally a well-defined and prioritized task. Set a timer for 25 minutes – during this session, focus exclusively on the task without interruptions. Work with focus until the timer rings – ignore all distractions. Take a short break (5 minutes) – stretch, hydrate, breathe. After 4 cycles, take a longer break (15-20 minutes) – to fully recover. This rhythm is meant to sustain high attention levels in bounded time while avoiding mental exhaustion. Alternating focus and rest creates a sense of positive urgency (countdown motivates) and frequent rewards (the breaks).
It also encourages lightweight planning: you can estimate how many Pomodoros are needed per activity and track your progress. For example, writing an incident report might take one Pomodoro for information gathering, one for drafting, and one for proofreading, with breaks in between.
Adapting Pomodoro to CERT/CSIRT realities While easy to apply in calm environments, Pomodoro needs tweaking for SOC/CERT operations, which are unpredictable and nonlinear. I had to adapt Pomodoro’s rigidity to operational pressure by balancing focus and flexibility.
Handling interruptions without losing the thread The first adjustment concerns managing unexpected interruptions—external (colleagues, alerts, calls) or internal (self-imposed distractions). Pomodoro explicitly addresses interruptions: the idea is to quickly capture them for later without breaking the current session. In real life, when a thought or task pops up mid-session, I jot it down in a “To-Do Later” notebook and immediately return to my task.
The time spent jotting down the interruption is minimal and acceptable in Pomodoro because you’re not actually switching tasks. It helps you remember without succumbing to multitasking.
For external interruptions, I try to negotiate a delay. If someone asks for something mid-Pomodoro, I explain that I’m on a high-focus task and will get back shortly (ideally under 30 minutes).
Often, a 25-minute wait is acceptable. Of course, critical alerts take priority. In that case, Pomodoro must be broken immediately. Cirillo insists: a Pomodoro must ring to be counted; otherwise, it’s void and postponed.
I’ve learned to triage: what can wait 20 minutes versus what can’t. Surprisingly, many requests can be delayed. For instance, postponing email replies by 10 minutes to finish a current task has proven manageable. But if a live intrusion alert comes in, I stop everything. My team knows when I say “10 more minutes,” it’s not to avoid work but to finish current actions cleanly—unless it’s an emergency.
Over time, this transparency has helped my team respect my focus bubbles, as everyone benefits from improved efficiency.
Staying flexible in applying the method Another lesson is not to rigidly apply Pomodoro in dynamic contexts. I initially tried planning my whole day in 25-minute blocks, but realized that not all CERT tasks fit this granularity. Deep technical tasks might need 40-minute stretches; lighter tasks might take 15.
So I adapt: mini-Pomodoros for quick wins, extended ones for complex tasks. The 25-minute rule is a baseline, not a dogma.
I’ve set a few personal rules:
- Encourage regular breaks: even in crisis, I insert short breaks. A 5-minute pause after intense focus helps. These recovery periods prevent burnout in high-pressure cyber roles.
- Don’t apply the method dogmatically: Pomodoro is a tool, not a constraint. If one rule doesn’t fit, I bend it. If I need 5 more minutes to finish something, I go over the timer (without making it a habit). Likewise, if I’m tired, I cut it short. Flexibility is key—the goal is overall effectiveness, not perfection.
- Use Pomodoro in team settings: in crisis cells, I’ve proposed synchronized Pomodoros—25 minutes of shared deep work, followed by shared breaks. It fosters collective focus.
It’s optional, but helpful in intense moments. Keep room for emergencies: no productivity method should block incident response. When a major attack breaks out at 10 a.m., my Pomodoro plan gets tossed—and rightly so. In these moments, priorities shift, and once the storm passes, Pomodoro helps me reorganize response steps (e.g., 15 minutes to assess impact, 25 to gather evidence). In short, I learned to blend Pomodoro’s rigor with field flexibility. It’s not about perfect implementation, but about carving out protected concentration bubbles while staying ready to break them when needed.
Alert triage: focus through intervals instead of enduring the flow Triage is my daily routine as a CERT lead. Each day, I scan large volumes of security notifications. Most are noise. Before, I used to treat alerts continuously, interrupting for every email or ping. Now I do triage in dedicated focus blocks.
For example, first thing in the morning, I dedicate one full Pomodoro (25 minutes) to reviewing overnight alerts. No emails, no calls. I try to process as many alerts as possible, from most to least critical. Timeboxing keeps me focused.
The timer motivates: “10 minutes left, stay focused.” At the end, I assess: X alerts reviewed, Y false positives closed, Z worth deeper analysis. Then a 5-minute break to stretch and check messages.
This sprint-style triage boosts efficiency. I clear more alerts in 25 focused minutes than in an hour of interruptions. It reduces alert backlog and improves responsiveness.
Of course, sometimes I hit a real incident during a triage Pomodoro. If I find a suspicious alert suggesting data exfiltration, I stop everything and start incident response. That Pomodoro is aborted—but it served its purpose by guiding me to the threat.
Overall, Pomodoro helps me better segment routine processing time. Instead of multitasking confusion, I allocate 1-2 focused Pomodoros for alerts, then switch to other tasks. This aligns with basic time management advice: protect windows for important work.
We can’t ignore critical alerts, but we can avoid being scattered by minor ones. This improves effective detection: during focused triage, I better spot the alert that truly matters.
Incident report writing: improved discipline and productivity Writing an incident report requires a different mode: calm, analytical, with no urgent deadline—but easy to postpone. I’ve often delayed reports due to distraction or lack of inspiration.
Pomodoro gave me a structure. I allocate dedicated Pomodoros: one to gather info (timeline, evidence, actions), one to draft the report, one to review and finalize.
This helps break down the intellectual task: the report becomes a series of small, concrete steps.
First Pomodoro: just gather facts. I open notes, collect key data (timestamps, IPs, attack vectors), no writing yet. Second: write freely. I focus on narrative and analysis, skipping perfect wording. If I get an idea for later, I jot it down.
Third: reread and polish. I fix phrases, ensure completeness. Usually, 25 minutes suffice for refinement.
This approach reduced overall report time and improved quality. Focused writing blocks cut out distractions. The close deadline keeps me motivated.
Over time, I’ve learned to estimate effort: a standard report takes 3-4 Pomodoros. I plan accordingly—2 cycles this afternoon, one tomorrow to finalize. The method recommends splitting tasks requiring over 7 Pomodoros into sub-tasks—a rule I now follow for larger reports.
In summary, Pomodoro brought rhythm and discipline to writing. It suits the activity perfectly. Interruptions are rare, and I often complete my cycles uninterrupted. Checking off each Pomodoro gives a sense of progress.
Crisis coordination: balancing Pomodoro and emergency handling Crisis cells during major incidents are not ideal for Pomodoro. During active response, priorities shift by the minute, and communication is nonstop. No one can say “I’m in Pomodoro, please wait.”
However, once initial containment is in place, Pomodoro-inspired principles help.
In one crisis, after a critical server compromise, we spent the first hour in chaos. Once things settled, I proposed 30-minute cycles: everyone works on their task without interruption, then a quick sync and micro-break, then restart.
This team Pomodoro helped: people felt free to delay non-critical questions, knowing a checkpoint was coming. The frenzied exchanges eased, allowing deeper investigation.
Personally, I analyzed logs faster during these blocks. The 5-minute syncs were agile-like standups. Even short water breaks helped us last the full day.
Of course, some critical events disrupted the cycle—but overall, it brought structure to the chaos and reminded us to rest.
Colleagues appreciated the rhythm. It prevented tunnel vision and fatigue. So even in crisis, Pomodoro served as a compass for time awareness and team care.
Continuous learning: carving time for skill development Continuous learning is vital in cyber. Threats evolve, tools change, and analysts must stay sharp. But it’s easy to neglect learning amidst incidents.
Pomodoro helped me institutionalize learning time. I block two 25-minute slots per week—often quiet afternoons—for reading or online practice.
During these sessions, I treat learning like any priority: I mute notifications, set goals (e.g., read a CERT-FR report), and focus fully.
Initially, I felt guilty “not working on incidents,” but I realized that investing 25 minutes regularly makes me more effective long term. It barely disrupts other duties—and the timer keeps it contained.
One example: I spent a Pomodoro on an APT campaign report. I took notes, summarized for colleagues during the break, then resumed normal work. Later, when a similar alert arose, I recognized it faster. That’s when I saw the ROI of learning time.
Many certifications require documented training hours—evidence that the field values continuous development.
Today, I still use Pomodoro to protect my learning time. It’s not just about short-term productivity—it’s also about making room for foundational growth that prepares us for future incidents.
Conclusion This experience showed me that while Pomodoro was designed for structured solo work, it brings real value to high-intensity CERT/CSIRT environments—if adapted smartly.
As a CERT lead, I gained concrete benefits: better focus despite interruptions, calmer alert triage, improved report productivity, more structured crisis handling, and guaranteed time for upskilling.
I also acknowledge its limits: one must let go during emergencies and not stress over unfinished Pomodoros. The goal is not blind productivity, but using Pomodoro as a flexible ally.
In critical environments, balance is key: leverage Pomodoro’s rigor (focus, regular breaks, task segmentation) while keeping the flexibility essential to cybersecurity roles.
This journey helped me better understand how I work under pressure and improve time management. I hope it gives other SOC/CERT analysts and CISOs ideas to experiment with the method.
Whether it’s to beat procrastination or catch your breath during a rush, the Pomodoro tomato has earned its place in my professional toolkit—subtle, effective, and above all, adaptable to our reality.
Sources :
- Koffi Hounnou – “The Pomodoro Technique: an effective approach to time management”,
- LinkedIn (July 28, 2023). Francisco Sáez – “How to deal with interruptions in The Pomodoro Technique”,
- FacileThings Blog (2013). Mick Leach – “Priorities Beyond Email: How SOC Analysts Spend Their Time”,
- Abnormal Security via Cloud Security Alliance (May 21, 2024). Karine Turcin – “Time management: ending distractions and interruptions”,
