The Pomodoro Technique – 6 months later

6 months ago I decided to try out the Pomodoro Technique, so it’s about time to document my findings. First of all, I cannot image going back to the way I used to work before. It seems too chaotic and disorganized now that I got used to the mechanical precision of the technique.

Some things I learned:

As I first suspected, the technique helped me accomplish a larger and more efficient quantity of work than before, with a lot less interruption, and a lot less room for procrastination. Not that you cannot procrastinate, it’s just that it’s more obvious to yourself when you do so. If you try reaching for 12-13 pomodoros on an average day, the days when you only manage to churn out 6 or 8 will stand out like a sore thumb.
I now think of tasks in terms of the number of pomodoros it takes to complete them, so it gave me an excellent unit of measurement for use in estimating.
Most of us don’t work in an isolated environment, and it’s sometimes hard not to be interrupted, and I think this problem only grows as the size of your organization increases.

Some tricks I used to adapt the technique to my own needs:

Starting a new pomodoro is sometimes hard. I now have the habit of leaving a small amount of work not done at the end of a pomodoro, and when the break is over this forces me to jump right in and finish what I started. It’s a lot easier to procrastinate when the code is stable and everything works.
I try and time my pomodoros with my lunch break. Therefore, I don’t take a larger break until after the 5th or 6th pomodoro, which usually ends just as we are all about to go out for lunch. Otherwise I would take my lunch break after just 2 pomodoros.
I started using the technique by scribbling the number of pomodoros that passed on a little piece of paper. I have, since then, advanced to using a daily to-do list, and marking each pomodoro on the row of it’s corresponding task. This serves a double purpose as, besides tracking the daily pomodoro count, it helps with the future estimation of similar tasks.

Some of the adjustments I made (particularly the first one) directly contradict the book. I don’t think that’s too bad, because the entire technique’s role is to help me become more productive, and if I found a way to improve on this (for my particular case, of course), I think it’s OK. So go ahead and roll your own, as long as the changes you make boost your productivity. However, I strongly recommend sticking to the instructions in the book for the first few months, and then decide if it works for you out of the box or if it needs tweaks.

November 2, 2010 | Filed Under Lifehacks

Comments

6 Responses to “The Pomodoro Technique – 6 months later”

Catalin
on November 4th, 2010 10:26

Salut,

tare de tot tehnica. Am pus-o ieri in aplicare dupa ce am citit la tine si deja s-a simtit diferenta. Mersi mult.

Vroiam sa te intreb, partea cu deschisul documentelor sau a programelor necesare, intra in pauza sau in promodoro ? Chiar respecti cele 5 min de pauza ?
Victor Stanciu
on November 4th, 2010 11:14

For my non-Romanian readers (yes, all 6 of you), what Catalin is asking is if “management” tasks like setting up your environment in order to start working are “included” in the pomodoro.

I normally start the timer when I decide it’s “time to start working”, so I guess the setup is included in the first pomodoro. But really, it’s a trivial detail, it cannot take you more that 3-4 minutes to prepare your environment (if it does, I think you have bigger issues than deciding where to include that time).

PS: please try to continue the discussion in English, it’s very confusing for the foreign readers, few as they may be.
virusescu
on November 11th, 2010 17:59

Say what? 12-13 pomodoros in a day?
I hate you.

The most I’ve managed was 10. On a Saturday.
I usually get a lot of interruption during a normal day.

For the time being, I’ve kind of put the technique on pause, since it only helped me build additional frustration for not managing to finish more than 6 pomodoros in a regular (12 hours :P) work-day.

I’m now thinking to restart this habit and maybe enforce it more aggressively, since I now have proof (you) that one can actually use it steadily for such a long period of time (it really seems huge to me).
Victor Stanciu
on November 11th, 2010 18:55

The hardest part about the technique is actually getting past the depressing beginning. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed at first, but it will eventually make you more aggressive in avoiding interruptions, because now you know how much they really cost you.

6 pomodoros a day is very low once you get into a natural rhythm, but it’s perfectly OK to start from. I had the exact same issues. Some people can be productive on their own. I cannot, and apparently neither can you. Hence the technique.
Adrian Cojocariu
on July 6th, 2011 17:10

Nice post! I’ll be watching you ;) :)
Oliver
on December 13th, 2011 17:50

Hello Vic, nice to see you are using Pomodoro Technique as well and it works for you.

From what I recall,it’s better to use a kitchen timer, pen and paper with pomodoro technique as it adds to your commitment but the virtual tools are sometimes easier to use.

I use two tools with this technique

The first is called Focus Booster, it has nice graphics and works as a kitchen timer.

The second one is an online tool named Orkanizer that allows you to manage your pomodoros.It’s still in development but stable at this point.It has only basic stuff like daily to do lists,activities, interruptions and pomodoro previsions but also offers a statistics tool that shows your overall performance daily.

I would like to see an online tool that uses achievements mechanics similar to stackoverflow.

Achievement: 10 pomodoros in a day,
Achievement: three days with more than 10 pomodoros per day
Achievement: pinpoint, finished an activity in the prevision-ed number of pomodoros.
Achievement: 3 consective pomodoros with no interruptions.

http://www.focusboosterapp.com/
http://orkanizer.com