Yet, the dreaded finance and admin pile has a habit of growing, pushed to the side until the end of the quarter when it becomes even more demanding.
If you find yourself constantly pushing aside bookkeeping tasks – the essential, non-negotiable chores that keep your business compliant and healthy – it’s time for a simple reset.
We're talking about the Pomodoro Technique: a method used to help cut through procrastination through short bursts of intense focus. You could use it to help get on top of your business finance admin, giving you back time for what you actually love doing: running and growing your business.
The Italian secret: what is the Pomodoro Technique?
Born from an Italian student’s cheap tomato-shaped kitchen timer (pomodoro is Italian for tomato), this time management method is straightforward.
It breaks your workday into dedicated intervals of focused work, typically 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Each 25-minute period is a single ‘pomodoro.’
The brilliance is in the commitment. When the timer starts, you dedicate 100% of your attention to one single task. No checking email, no social media scrolling, no jumping to a different invoice. If you get distracted, you restart the timer. After one pomodoro, you take a short five-minute rest. After four pomodoros, you take a longer, more restorative break (usually 20–30 minutes).
It’s not about working harder or longer, it’s about establishing intense, focused sprints that trick your brain into tackling intimidating tasks by giving them a clear, short deadline. And for the self-employed, who often wear all the hats, this structured approach is pure gold.
Why 25 minutes is the magic number for finance tasks
When it comes to "doing the books" or "calculating taxes" the tasks can sometimes feel too big, too complex, or – if we’re being honest – too boring. This is where the Pomodoro excels.
By framing your bookkeeping as a series of 25-minute sprints, you remove the psychological barrier of an overwhelming task. Instead of staring at a mountain of receipts, you commit to one specific, manageable goal: “I will categorise 50 transactions in the next 25 minutes.”
Admin and finance tasks, while crucial, can feel mundane. The Pomodoro’s fixed time limit provides a sense of urgency, forcing you to move past the initial hesitation and into high-efficiency mode. It transforms reconciliation from a soul-crushing chore into a competitive sprint against the clock.
This is the perfect way to schedule time for tasks that are often neglected:
Reconciling bank statements.
Chasing outstanding invoices.
Organising and uploading receipts.
Checking your running tax liability calculation.
When the timer rings, you stop. This rule is crucial. It ensures you don't burn out and guarantees you maintain consistent, high-quality focus for the next session.
Setting the scene: making your pomodoro sacred
To ensure your finance pomodoros are effective, you need to treat them as sacred time. This is not casual work; this is dedicated focus that saves you hours of stress later.
The distraction-free zone: This is non-negotiable. Put your phone on silent and place it face down (or, ideally, in another room). Close all unnecessary browser tabs. Inform family, colleagues, or flatmates that you are unavailable for the next 25 minutes. A single interruption can break your flow, costing you valuable minutes and momentum.
The visible timer: Use a physical timer or a full-screen app. Being able to see the time ticking down visually reinforces the urgency and keeps your attention anchored to the task at hand.
One task to rule them all: Before you start, write down the single, specific administrative task you will complete. If the task is too large (e.g., "Do all the bookkeeping"), break it down. For example: “Pomodoro 1: Upload all January receipts,” “Pomodoro 2: Categorise all payments from my bank feed.”
Use your breaks: The breaks are just as important as the sprints. Use the five minutes to stretch, grab water, or simply look away from your screen. This allows your mind to consolidate the information you just processed and prevents the burnout that often leads to procrastination.
Automate your admin: where Mettle could help
The Pomodoro Technique works brilliantly, but it requires you to put in the time. What if you could drastically reduce the volume of financial admin that even a hyper-focused 25-minute sprint requires?
This is where your Mettle business account could help,
Mettle is designed around the principle of saving you time by reducing or simplifying your business-admin tasks. When you pair your Pomodoro routine with an account built for the self-employed, you transform your admin sprints from painful necessities into quick check-ins.
Mettle: your admin assistant in an app
*To get FreeAgent for free you need to make at least one transaction from your Mettle account a month. If you don’t, or your Mettle account is closed, then FreeAgent’s standard fees apply. FreeAgent has optional paid-for extras.
Accounting automation with FreeAgent: With a Mettle account you get FreeAgent accounting software for free*. This integration links your bank feed directly to your accounting software. The result? As long as you categorise your payments in the Mettle app, it’ll automatically update in FreeAgent, helping to keep your bookkeeping in check. Learn more about FreeAgent here.
Be tax confident: The fear of the unknown tax bill is a major source of business stress. Mettle helps by providing a running total of how much tax you're likely to owe based on your in-app transactions, when you’re connected to FreeAgent and complete all related categorisation tasks in the app. This insight allows you to set aside a percentage of every incoming payment automatically into a dedicated Tax Pot – making the act of "saving for tax" a continuous background process, not a daunting end-of-quarter task. Discover the tax features here.
Transaction categorisation on the go: During your 25-minute Pomodoro, you don’t want to waste time trying to remember what a payment was for. Mettle lets you easily categorise transactions as they happen, ensuring your records are always up-to-date and accurate. Less thinking, more ticking off the to-do list. Find out about categorisation and getting paid faster here.
Invoicing from your pocket: Creating professional invoices and sending them straight from the app is quick and easy. Even better, Mettle automatically auto-matches incoming payments to invoices. With Mettle+ (which is an optional paid-for feature that you can cancel at any time) you can create quotes to help win more business, and convert them to invoices all in the app. Learn more about Mettle+ here.
Mettle is the business account that helps you do your business finances on the go.
Beyond admin: pomodoros for business growth
Once you’ve mastered using the Pomodoro to tackle the necessary administrative work, why not dedicate a few daily sprints to high-value, strategic thinking?
While your finance pomodoros keep the business running, your strategy pomodoros help the business grow. Use a focused 25 minutes to clear your mind and answer difficult, forward-thinking questions that often get sidelined by day-to-day chaos.
What is my unique skill set? (And how am I failing to better monetise my key strengths?)
What is a genuine, painful problem for my target audience? (And what solution could I develop this quarter?)
What is the competitor landscape doing right now? (What new service or marketing approach should I adapt or avoid?)
What is a statistic or data point that can help back my next idea? (Focused research to validate a business decision.)
Does the idea still excite me after 25 minutes of deep focus? (The ultimate test for filtering out fleeting, low-value concepts.)
These strategic sprints ensure your focus remains on growth, not just maintenance.
The next 25 minutes start now
You now have the framework to conquer your admin. The Pomodoro Technique provides the structure and focus; Mettle provides the tools to simplify the workload.
Stop letting financial admin steal your focus and your passion. Dedicate 25 minutes right now to setting up your new system.
