"Pomodoro Technique"

I think most of us struggle with disorganization. There are often situations that we are trying for a long time to find some important documents or even today’s to-do list. Sometimes we think about “blue almonds”. Because of these difficulties with concentration we can lost view hours throughout the day. Imagine how much time you are losing each month, year!
I‘ll tell you something: it’s time to start using some kind of „time management tool”, otherwise you’ll lose the rat race!


My own art 1

I’ll try to introduce you the “Pomodoro technique” which helped me to organize time, focus better and get more tasks done just in time.
The Pomodoro technique gets its name from kitchen timers, which are often shaped like tomatoes. Francesco Cirillo, who is the inventor of this technique, used it as timer to keep track of his time as he focused on his university studies.

The deal is, that you break your time down into „pomodori” and do your job trying to focus the best you can : you set the time of 25 minutes and after the twenty five minutes you get a 5 minutes break. That’s called „one pomodoro”. The idea is to do 4 pomodoros one by one, than you can take a 30 minutes break. Each pomodoro can be dedicated to the same task as before(if you didn’t complete it during the previous pomodoro) or a new one.


My own art 2

To start using the Pomodoro Technique, you need the following:

1. A Pomodoro, a kitchen timer or some kind of software (you can download here).

2. “To-Do TaskList”, consist of jobs that you would like to have done. The top of page should contain: localization, date, your name. You can find ready-made here.

3. Inventory which is something like empty list, where you can put new activities which comes up during the day. Here You can check off finished jobs too. There is also nice template, simply click here.

In the begining of each day you need to choose and put into “todo-tasklist” jobs you would like to have done. You will find them in the inventory.
When you are ready to start work, set the timer for twenty five minutes and just perform activities from “to-do list”.

Important things:
- It’s always good to see, how much time is left.

- The “One Pomodoro” is atomic unit, so it can’t be split up. There is no something like “a pice of pomodoro”. If someone or something interrupt your “activity”, unfortunately you have to avoid current cicle and start the next one from the beginning.

If you hear rings sound, it means your current “Pomodoro” is finished. Put “X” near the task you are currently working on.


My own art 3
Now you have up to five minutes break. You should disconnect from your work. It means that you must not keep working, even for several minutes! It’s very important according to your mind assimilating what has been learned during last 25 minutes.
The good idea is to stand up, maybe do some stretching exercises or get something to drink.
If your break is over, set the timer to adequate time (of course 25min.) and follow your job until the next ring-sound. Then put next “X” character near the current task on the “todo” form.
If you have successfully finished four “Pomodoro’s”, you should get longer break (but max. 30 min.). You can use it for checking in-box, calling someone…



Interruptions
The most important problem while using “The pomodoro technique” is dealing with interruptions. There are two kinds of them:
- internal: you need to find something in “google” this moment, you feel the need to make call, not suffering from delay
- external: that moments, when another person want you to do something, someone asks for your help etc…
Try to control these internal impulses, suppress them to prevent the interruption of the activity cicle. Remember, it's about your performance.
Generally, the method of dealing with interruptions is always the same:
Try to “invert the dependency on interruptions, and make the interruptions depend on you.”
“If a colleague or study partner comes over, you can politely say you’re busy and suggest not to disturb (Some people use the humorous expression “I’m in the middle of a Pomodoro.”) Then tell the person that you’d rather call them back in 25 minutes, or in a few hours, or tomorrow, depending on how urgent and important the matter is.”
“The Pomodoro Technique”, Francesco Cirillo, October 2006.

There are many more details, you should now about the “Pomodoro technique”, but I hope you understood the main point.

You can discover more by visiting pomodorotechnique homepage.

Thank you for reading this article. I hope it will be useful for you.



I look forward comments, I will be glad if you answer the following questions:

Have you ever heard about the “Pomodoro Technique”? Have you tried this?

Do you think it can be effective? in which areas would you use it?

If you know a better way to organize your time, present the idea.