I’ve also had this problem. I think the following things help:
1) making the specified time 10 minutes rather than 5 − 5 never feels like a real break to me
2) doing social pomodoros with other people, so the return time is coordinated with others (this is by far the most effective intervention)
3) doing a breaktime activity that doesn’t immediately suck me in (e.g. stretching and listening to a song, or talking to people, rather than social media)
4) if I encounter something during the break that feels important or urgent, write it down so I know I won’t forget it and can come back to it later
5) …not being terrified of the task in question. I haven’t yet quite gotten the hang of this, for a lot of things. For tasks that are not very scary to me, returning to work is much easier.
6) having enough other time in the day to do things just for fun so I feel less like I have to steal productive time in order to have any fun at all (this is kinda hard to arrange though, sometimes)
I’ve also had this problem. I think the following things help:
1) making the specified time 10 minutes rather than 5 − 5 never feels like a real break to me
2) doing social pomodoros with other people, so the return time is coordinated with others (this is by far the most effective intervention)
3) doing a breaktime activity that doesn’t immediately suck me in (e.g. stretching and listening to a song, or talking to people, rather than social media)
4) if I encounter something during the break that feels important or urgent, write it down so I know I won’t forget it and can come back to it later
5) …not being terrified of the task in question. I haven’t yet quite gotten the hang of this, for a lot of things. For tasks that are not very scary to me, returning to work is much easier.
6) having enough other time in the day to do things just for fun so I feel less like I have to steal productive time in order to have any fun at all (this is kinda hard to arrange though, sometimes)