From Evgeny Goldin

Contents 1 Resources 2 Tools 3 Short Summary 4 Rules 5 Goals 6 Book Summary

Resources

• "The Pomodoro Technique"
  • the Pomodoro Technique Book
  • Cheat Sheet
  • "To Do Today" Worksheet
  • "Activity Inventory" Worksheet

Tools

• 9 Free Pomodoro Timers
• Pomodairo (Adobe AIR)
• Pomodroido (Android)

Short Summary

• Put all the activities you have to accomplish on the "Activity Inventory" Sheet.
• At the beginning of each day select the tasks you need to complete and copy them on the "To Do Today" Sheet.
• Start working:
  • Choose the topmost task from the list.
  • Set the Pomodoro timer to 25 minutes.
  • Work until the Pomodoro rings.
  • Mark the task with an X on the "To Do Today" Sheet.
  • Take a short break (3–5 minutes).
• Keep on working, Pomodoro after Pomodoro, until the task at hand is finished, then cross it out on the "To Do Today" Sheet.
• Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break, (15–30 minutes).

Rules

• A Pomodoro is indivisible.
• If a task takes more than 5–7 Pomodoros, break it down.
• If it takes less than one pomodoro, add it up, and combine it with another task.
• Once a Pomodoro begins, it has to ring.
• The next pomodoro will go better.
• The Pomodoro Technique shouldn’t be used for activities you do in your free time. Enjoy free time!

Goals

• Alleviate anxiety linked to becoming.
• Enhance focus and concentration by cutting down on interruptions.
• Increase awareness of your decisions.
• Boost motivation and keep it constant.
• Bolster the determination to achieve your goals.
• Refine the estimation process, both in qualitative and quantitative terms.
• Improve your work or study process.
• Strengthen your determination to keep on applying yourself in the face of complex situations.

Book Summary

• Objective I: Find Out How Much Effort an Activity Requires
  • The traditional Pomodoro is 30 minutes long: 25 minutes of work plus a 5-minute break.
  • At the beginning of each day, choose the tasks you want to tackle from the Activity Inventory Sheet, prioritize them, and write them down in the To Do Today Sheet.
  • Set the Pomodoro for 25 minutes and start the first activity on the To Do Today Sheet.
  • A Pomodoro can’t be interrupted; it marks 25 minutes of pure work.
  • When the Pomodoro rings, mark an X next to the activity you’ve been working on and take a break for 3-5 minutes.
  • When the Pomodoro rings, this signals that the current activity is peremptorily (though temporarily) finished. You’re not allowed to keep on working “just for a few more minutes”.
  • The 3-5 minute break gives you the time you need to “disconnect” from your work.
  • Once the break is over, set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes and continue the activity at hand until the next time it rings.
  • Then mark another X on the To Do Today Sheet.
  • Every four Pomodoros, stop the activity you’re working on and take a longer break, from 15 to 30 minutes.
  • Keep on working, Pomodoro after Pomodoro, until the task at hand is finished, and then cross it out on the To Do Today Sheet.
  • If you finish a task while the Pomodoro is still ticking - overlearn: use the remaining portion of the Pomodoro to review or repeat what you’ve done, make small improvements, and note down what you’ve learned until the the Pomodoro rings.
  • If you finish an activity in the first five minutes of the Pomodoro and task was already finished during the previous Pomodoro and revision wouldn’t be worthwhile, the current Pomodoro doesn’t have to be included in the Pomodoro count.
  • Once the current activity has been successfully completed, move on to the next one on your list, then the next, taking breaks between every Pomodoro and every four Pomodoros.
  • Improvement:
    • How many Pomodoros a week you spend on work activities and on explorative activities?
    • How many Pomodoros you do on an average day of the week?
    • What should I cut out? What activities are really useful? How can I reorganize them to be more effective?
    • At the end of the day, the activity of recording and later looking for ways to improve should not take more than one Pomodoro.

• Objective II: Cut Down on Interruptions
  • Internal Interruptions – We Interrupt Ourselves.
    • Make interruptions clearly visible.
    • Every time you feel a potential interruption coming on, put an apostrophe (‘) on the sheet where you record your Pomodoros.
    • Then do one of the following:
      • Write down the new activity on the "To Do Today" Sheet under Unplanned & Urgent if you think it’s imminent and can’t be put off.
      • Write it down in the Activity Inventory, marking it with a “U” (unplanned); add a deadline if need be.
    • Intensify your determination to finish the current Pomodoro. Once you’ve marked down the apostrophe, continue working on the given task till the Pomodoro rings.
    • The aim is to accept the fact that needs do emerge, and they shouldn’t be neglected. Look at them objectively and if possible reschedule them for another time.
  • External Interruptions – We’re Interrupted by Others.
    • External interruptions call for the ability to “protect” the ticking Pomodoro.
    • The main difference between internal and external interruptions is that with the latter we need to interact with other people: we need to communicate.
    • The mechanism for dealing with external interruptions is the same as that for internal ones: invert the dependency on interruptions, and make the interruptions depend on us.
    • True emergencies that need to be dealt with instantly are rare in real life.
    • A 25-minute or 2-hour delay (four Pomodoros) is almost always possible for activities that are commonly considered urgent.
    • You’ll come to realize how often apparently urgent activities can even be postponed till the following day while still satisfying the person making the request.
    • Inform, Negotiate, Call Back Strategy: inform effectively, negotiate quickly to reschedule the interruption, and call back the person who interrupted you as agreed.
    • The dependency inversion for interruptions lies in this mechanism: We’re no longer dependent on interruptions, interruptions depend on us (i.e. the Pomodoros we allocate for calling back).
    • Make these interruptions clearly visible.
    • Every time someone or something tries to interrupt a Pomodoro, put a dash (-) on the sheet where you record your Pomodoros.
    • See above about internal interruptions.
    • Delay organizational Pomodoros as far as possible, downgrading the degree of apparent urgency and incrementing the extent to which these activities can be controlled and scheduled.
    • Gradually cut down on the number of Pomodoros used for organizing the interruptions that come up throughout the day.

• Objective III: Estimate the Effort for Activities
  • Once you’ve begun to master the technique and you’ve reached the first two objectives, you can start working on quantitative estimates.
  • The long-term objective here is to successfully predict the effort that an activity requires.
  • At the start of each day, estimate how many Pomodoros each activity in the Inventory will take.
  • If It Takes More Than 5-7 Pomodoros, Break It Down.
  • If It Takes Less Than One Pomodoro, Add It Up.
  • Put together a set of activities that doesn’t exceed the number of Pomodoros available in a day. Record these Available Pomodoros on the To Do Today Sheet.
  • If you’ve used up the estimated Pomodoros and you still need more Pomodoros to finish the task you’re working on (quantitative underestimation error):
    • Continue and mark down the next Pomodoros without taking into account new estimates.
    • Make a new estimate, in Pomodoros, and mark these new estimated Pomorodos to the right of the last estimated and completed Pomodoro using a different color or shape.
  • Usually there are no more than three estimates. All the activities that require a third estimate have to be carefully reconsidered to understand the reasons why estimating was so complicated.
  • The first objective of improving quantitative estimates lies in eliminating the third estimate, and keeping the overall margin of error small.
  • The next objective is to eliminate the second estimate, again keeping the overall margin of error small.
  • The final objective is to reduce the margin of error in the first estimate.

• Objective IV: Make the Pomodoro More Effective
  • When you can systematically use the Pomodoro without interruptions, and you start to master estimating, you can evolve the Pomodoro Technique even further.
  • The first three to five minutes of each Pomodoro can be used to briefly repeat what you’ve learned since the beginning of the activity (not just the last Pomodoro), and then to print this in your memory.
  • The last three to five minutes of a Pomodoro can be used to quickly review what you’ve done (if possible, with an effect-cause procedure, starting from the last activities and going back to your initial motivations).
  • If you want to check the quality and methods of your work to pinpoint potential improvement, you should plan one or two Pomodoros to do so.
  • The first Pomodoro in a set of four, or part of this first Pomodoro, can be used to repeat what you’ve done so far.
  • Likewise, all or part of the last Pomodoro in the set can be used to review what you’ve accomplished.

• Objective V: Set Up a Timetable
  • A timetable sets a limit. Limits help us to be concrete, to do things. They motivate us to do our best to complete the tasks before us within a set period of time.
  • A timetable delineates the separation between work time and free time.
  • A timetable measures the results of the day. Once we’ve written up the To Do Today Sheet, our goal is to carry out the activities listed on it with the highest possible quality within the set timeframe.
  • With the Pomodoro Technique, figuring out how much time is wasted isn’t important; how many Pomodoros we’ve accomplished is.
  • The main risk with the timetable is in underestimating how important it is; it’s easy to fall in the trap of not respecting it. "Today I’ll work late to make up for lost time"
  • What emerges is a dangerous vicious circle: the timetable protracts, fatigue increases, productivity drops, the timetable protracts.
  • An effective timetable has to be respected. Respecting a timetable means developing immunity to the Five More Minutes Syndrome.
  • When your work time is up, just like when the Pomodoro rings, all activity stops. A
  • An effective timetable has to allow for the free time that’s needed to recoup.
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  • When seasons change, your timetable needs to change too.

• Results
  • Learning Time.
  • The Length of the Pomodoro.
  • Varying the Length of Breaks.
  • A Different Perception of Time.
  • The Next Pomodoro Will Go Better.
    • Your attention is trained on the here and now, emphasizing the search for a concrete way to stimulate the value of continuity and carry out activities in the most reasonable order.
    • One Pomodoro at a time, one activity at a time, one objective at a time.
  • Improving Estimates.
    • Improvement of quantitative estimates by reducing the error between estimated Pomodoros and actual Pomodoros.
    • Improvement of qualitative estimates by reducing the number of activities that weren’t included in the planning phase.

• Conclusions
  • Inverting the Dependency on Time.
    • The passage of time is no longer perceived as negative, but positive.
    • Every Pomodoro represents the opportunity to improve, or in crisis situations, to rapidly reorganize.
    • The more time passes, the better chance you have to improve your process. The more time passes, the more easily activities can be estimated and scheduled.
    • The more time passes, the more the feeling of anxiety is assuaged, and in its place come enhanced consciousness, sharper focus on the here and now, and a clearer mind in deciding your next move.
  • Regulating Complexity.
    • If It Lasts More Than 5-7 Pomodoros, Break It Down.
    • If It Lasts Less Than One Pomodoro, Add It Up.
    • Less complex activities are usually easier to estimate, so quantitative estimates improve.
    • Breaking down activities so they deliver incremental value also bolsters our determination to attain our objectives.
  • Detachment.
    • Frequent breaks with the Pomodoro are essential to achieving more lucid, conscious and effective mental capacity with a resulting increase in productivity.
    • A break every 25 minutes lets you see things from a different perspective and enables you to come up with different solutions; you often find mistakes to correct, and your creative processes are stimulated.
    • Stopping, detaching, and observing yourself from the outside enhances awareness of your behavior. Stopping becomes synonymous with strength, not weakness.
  • Observation and Continual Feedback.
    • Recording data at least once a day, with tracking every 30 minutes, lets us assess the effectiveness of our modus operandi on the basis of objective metrics.
  • Sustainable Pace.
    • Respecting the timetable for work and breaks contributes to achieving continuity.
    • By respecting the schedule for breaks between single Pomodoros and sets of Pomodoros, you can work and study while maintaining your pace.
    • By consciously managing breaks and the complexity of content, in time anyone who uses the Pomodoro Technique can come to know his or her sustainable pace or physiological rhythm.