Berke, a 29-year-old software engineer in Kayseri, Turkey, holds a day job at a corporate SaaS firm. His thMenu affiliate business is strictly a side hustle — yet he hits 4,800₺ monthly recurring revenue (MRR) using only two hours per evening. His secret: a four-step Pomodoro routine and a brutally honest tracker inside the TickTick app.
Berke's Four Pomodoro Routine
After his day job ends, Berke blocks 19:30 to 21:30. Four 25-minute focus sessions, each followed by a 5-minute break. Total: 120 minutes of actual work plus 15 minutes of recovery. Longer sessions trigger diminishing returns; shorter ones starve the pipeline. He spent six months finding this balance.
- Pomodoro 1 (19:30-19:55): Prospect research. Ten new Kayseri restaurants via Google Maps, Instagram bio check, current menu solution audit.
- Pomodoro 2 (20:00-20:25): Personalized email writing. ChatGPT template plus manual edits — 8 to 10 emails sent.
- Pomodoro 3 (20:30-20:55): Demo prep. Custom screen-recording script for the 2-3 restaurants that replied the previous day.
- Pomodoro 4 (21:00-21:25): Follow-up calls and WhatsApp messages. Second touch for leads silent more than 5 days.
The Numbers Inside His TickTick Tracker
Berke tags every block: #prospect, #email, #demo, #followup. TickTick generates a weekly report. Eight-week averages: 28 prospects scanned, 9 personalized emails, 2.3 demos prepped, 4.7 follow-ups per day. Compounded weekly this produces roughly 1.8 new restaurants signed — Pro tier 20% lifetime commission yields about 580₺ per active account × 8 actives = 4,800₺ MRR.
Critical caveat: Berke runs four Pomodoros Monday through Thursday, one review block on Friday evening, full rest Saturday-Sunday. He tried five-day weeks twice and burned out by week three. The current cadence has held for fourteen straight months.
Why Pomodoro Works for Side-Hustle Sales
After a full day job, decision fatigue is real. Setting an open-ended "I'll work until I'm tired" target collapses into endless scroll. A 25-minute box with one job removes the "what should I do now?" tax. Berke's observation: 25-minute email blocks kill the "perfect sentence" trap — output is faster and warmer. Open rate hits 34%, reply rate 11%, both well above the 22%/4% industry baseline.
The second factor is break discipline. During the 5-minute pause Berke physically leaves the screen — water, balcony, brief stretch. No phone, no scroll. Without that break his fourth Pomodoro produced sloppy follow-ups; with it, block 4 matches block 1 reply rate.
FAQ
Does Pomodoro work for side-hustle sales? Yes — Berke is living proof. The key is one category per 25-minute block; multitasking destroys the entire premise.
Can I use something other than TickTick? Forest, Be Focused, or the native iOS Focus mode all work. What matters is tagged tracking plus a weekly report.
How long to hit 4,800₺ MRR? Berke hit 2,400₺ at month 6 and 4,800₺ at month 11. Months 1-3 were nearly zero — pipeline takes time to fill.
Found this helpful? Share it.
Related articles
7 Smart Ways to Place QR Codes in Your Restaurant
Placement matters more than you think. These seven strategies maximize QR code s…
How to Reduce Waiter Workload by 40% Without Firing Anyone
Smart digital tools don't replace your team — they free them to focus on what ma…
12 Concrete Benefits of QR Menus (Backed by Real Data)
From eliminating print costs to boosting average order value by up to 31%, here …