Copyright©2006,2018byFrancescoCirilloAllrightsreserved.PublishedintheUnitedStatesbyCurrency,animprintoftheCrownPublishingGroup,adivisionofPenguinRandomHouseLLC,NewYork.crownpublishing.com

CURRENCYanditscolophonaretrademarksofPenguinRandomHouseLLC.

Originallyself-publishedinadifferentformasThePomodoroTechnique:DoMoreandHaveFunwithTimeManagementin2006.

LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailableuponrequest.

ISBN 9781524760700EbookISBN 9781524760717

CoverdesignbyChristopherLinCoverphotograph:PackStock/AlamyStockPhotov5.3.2a

CONTENTS

PREFACETOTHE2018EDITION

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

FOUNDATIONS

THECONTEXT

GoalsofthePomodoroTechniqueBasicAssumptions

REACHINGYOURINDIVIDUALGOALS

MATERIALANDMETHOD

OBJECTIVEI:

FINDOUTHOWMUCHEFFORTANACTIVITYREQUIRES

StarttheFirstPomodoroEveryFourPomodorosCompletinganActivityRecordingImprovementTheNatureofthePomodoro

OBJECTIVEII:CUTDOWNONINTERRUPTIONS

InternalInterruptionsScenarioExternalInterruptions

SystematicInterruptionsRecording:QualitativeEstimationErrorsinPlanning

OBJECTIVEIII:ESTIMATETHEEFFORTFORACTIVITIES

AvailablePomodorosPossibleScenariosRecordingEstimatesManagingExploration

OBJECTIVEIV:

MAKETHEPOMODOROMOREEFFECTIVE

TheStructureofthePomodoroTheStructureofthePomodoroSet

OBJECTIVEV:SETUPATIMETABLE

TheBest-CaseScenarioAScenariowithInterruptionsOptimizingYourTimetable

OBJECTIVEVI:

DEFINEYOUROWNPERSONALIMPROVEMENTOBJECTIVE

REACHINGYOURTEAMGOALS

APPLYINGTHEPOMODOROTECHNIQUEONATEAM

AllTooOften,TeamsBecomePreytoTheirGoalsHowCanthePomodoroTechniqueHelpaTeamReachItsGoals?

ADAPTINGTHETOOLSOFTHETECHNIQUETOATEAM

DoesEachMemberoftheTeamHaveTheirOwnPomodoro,orIsThereaPomodorofortheWholeTeam?

WhatIsaMicroteam?WhyNotHaveOnePomodoroforAlltheMembersoftheTeam?HowCanWeArrangeforEveryonetoAttendaMeeting?WhoSetsthePomodoro?WhoMakestheEstimates?WhoRecordsthePomodoros?

DoWeNeedtoModifythePomodoroTechniqueSheets?

SIMPLEPRACTICESTOGETYOURTEAMSTARTED

PomodoroRotationsSnapYourPomodoro

WHYTEAMSNEEDMOREADVANCEDPRACTICES

HowCanthePomodoroTechniqueHelpaTeamManageComplexity,Interruptions,andBottlenecks?

THEPRACTICEOFTHECOUNTER

ProblemSolutionProsandCons

THEPRACTICEOFTHEPOMODOROHACKATHON

ProblemSolutionProsandCons

THEPRACTICEOFTHERAM

ProblemSolutionProsandCons

RESULTS

OBSERVATIONS

LearningTimeTheLengthofthePomodoroVaryingtheLengthofBreaksADifferentPerceptionofTimeSoundsofthePomodoroShapesofthePomodoroRingAnxietyConstantInternalInterruptionsTheNextPomodoroWillGoBetterWhatTypeofTimerWorksBest?ImprovingEstimatesMotivationandthePomodoroAndIfEverythingGoesCompletelyWrong?ThePomodoroHasaLimitWhenNottoUsethePomodoro

MASTERINGTHETECHNIQUE

InvertingtheDependencyonTimeRegulatingComplexityDetachmentObservationandContinualFeedbackSustainablePace

THENEXTSTEP

RULES

GLOSSARY

GETTOWORK

TODOTODAYSHEET

ACTIVITYINVENTORYSHEET

RECORDSSHEET

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IPREFACETOTHE2018EDITION

woundupthefirstPomodoroonacloudySeptemberafternoonin1987.Thesettingwastheterraceofahouseinamedievalvillage30milesnorthofRome—Sutri—where I spent my family holidays. The task was clear but scary: “Iwant to finish this chapter.” The chapter in question was the first of thesociologybookIwasreadingforauniversityexamIhad to takewithina fewweeks.Thatafternoon, Inever imagined thatonedaymillionsofpeoplearoundthe

worldwouldhaverepeated thatsamegestureofwindingupakitchen timer tobeatdistractionsandreachtheirobjectiveswithinthesetperiodoftime.IneverimaginedthatIwouldhearthesoundoftickingtimersinthebackgrounduponenteringanopen-spaceofficefullofbrilliantsoftwaredevelopers.AndIwouldhavethoughtitimpossiblefortheCEOofabanktousemysametomato-shapedtimertostructureaboardmeeting.Orthatthetechniquewouldbedescribedinsuch prestigious publications as the New York Times, The Guardian, andHarvard Business Review. Yet, all that did happen. But how it happened stillremainsapleasantmysterytome.IclearlyrememberthesensationIfeltwhenthatPomodororangforthefirst

time: anunusual andunexplainable senseof calm.Mymindhadbeendriftingfromonedirectiontoanotherlikeasmallboatatthemercyofastorm.“Ineedtopass the exam. I have three books to study. There’s not much time until theexam. I’llnevermake it. I can’t focus. I’malwaysgettingdistracted.Maybe Ishouldstopstudyingandpostponetheexam.MaybeIshouldstopstudyinganddosomethingelse.”After thePomodororang,andthatfirst timedworkperiodwasover,theseawascalmagain:IknewIcoulddoit.IrememberwantingtosetanotherPomodoro.AndIhadsetthatfirstoneforonlytwominutes,notthe25Iwouldcometofindwasideal.

ItwasthatsenseofcalmnessandcontrolIhadregainedthatenabledmetopassthe exam. And led me to start my own research into the phenomenon ofPomodoros:“Whydoesitwork?HowlongshouldaPomodorolast?HowmanyPomodoroscanyoudoinaday?HowmuchrestbetweenPomodorosshouldIallow?”Ittookanumberofyearstofindtheanswerstothosequestionsandtoorganizeandstructurethemintoatechniqueforimprovingproductivity.IfeltitwasnaturaltonamethetechniqueIhaddevelopedthePomodoro.As Iwrite this preface, the gentle ticking of that Pomodoro kitchen timer I

used to prepare for the sociology exam is stillwithme. It has become an oldfriend. Thirty-one years have passed since that September afternoon in 1987.Many things have changed since then. The development of the Internet andsocialmediahavetransformedourhabitsandbehavior.Oursmartphonesletusknowwhenweneedtoleavetogettothemoviesontimeorwhenthedinnerweorderedfromthecarortaxionthewayhomeisfiveminutesawayfrombeingdelivered.Socialmediaandvariousappsexposeustointerruptions24/7.SohowisthePomodoroTechniquestilleffectiveinthedigitalage?Themost prolific source of distractions remains our ownmind.What I call

internal interruptions—the sudden desire to order a pizza, update your socialmediastatus,orcleanyourdesk—canstillbemorefrequentanddisruptivethantheexternalones,suchas thepingofanewe-mailoraFacebooknotification.Thebestapproachtodealingwiththeseinterruptionsistoacceptthemandtreattheminagentleway.ThePomodoroTechniqueinvitesyoutowritethemdownonyourphoneor computeror apieceofpaper anddealwith themonceyourPomodoro is over. This way, you acknowledge their value and have time toconsiderandassessthemproperlytodecidewhethertheyarereallyimportantornot. If inashortspaceof timeyouexperience toomanyinternal interruptions,the Pomodoro Technique specifically requires you to stop and take a longerbreak.The appearance of so many internal interruptions is our mind’s way of

sendingusamessage:Wearenotateasewithwhatwearedoing.Thismaybebecausetheprospectoffailingworriesus—itcanbescary.Ormaybeourgoalseems too complex orwe feelwe are running out of time. To protect us, ourminds comeupwith different,more reassuring activities.We end up favoringinterruptionswhereverwecanlatchontothem.

Thetypeandfrequencyofinterruptions—whethertheyareinternalorexternal—donotthreatenthePomodoroTechnique.Thetechniquehelpsusbeawareofhow our mind works and helps us to consciously decide how to deal withinterruptions. Sometimeswhat pops into our head is truly urgent.But inmostcases, it can be postponed for 20 minutes, until the end of the Pomodoro.Because interruptionsareoften justwaysforourmindtodistractus, takingusaway fromwhatwe are supposed to be doing, this process can lead you to abetter understanding of the fears that underlie your reaction to interruptions.Onceyouidentifythesefears,youcanfindwaystomanagethem.Withoutthisprocess, our fears can take over and a “fear of fear” can paralyze us. Thetechnique helps us develop a constant dialogue with ourselves, to observeourselves and not delude ourselves. In any case, if you find yourself writingmessagesinsteadoffocusingonyourgoal,donotworry:ThenextPomodorowillgobetter.Begentlewithyourself.

TPREFACE

hebasic idea for thePomodoroTechniquecame tome in the late1980s,duringmyfirstyearsatcollege.Oncetheelationfromcompletingmyfirst-yearexaminationshadsubsided,I

foundmyselfinaslump,atimeoflowproductivityandhighconfusion.EverydayIwenttoschool,attendedclasses,andreturnedhomewiththedishearteningfeelingthatIdidn’tknowwhatI’dbeendoing, thatI’dbeenwastingmytime.The exam dates came up so fast, and it seemed that I had no way to defendmyselfagainstthepassingoftime.One day in the classroom on campuswhere I used to study, Iwatchedmy

classmateswith a critical eye and then looked evenmore critically atmyself:howIgotmyselforganized,howIinteractedwithothers,howIstudied.ItwasclearthatthehighnumberofdistractionsandinterruptionsandthelowlevelofconcentrationandmotivationwereattherootoftheconfusionIwasfeeling.Iaskedmyselfaquestionthatwasashelpfulasitwashumiliating:“Canyou

study—really study—for ten minutes?” I needed objective validation, a TimeTutor, and I found one in a kitchen timer shaped like apomodoro (Italian fortomato)—inotherwords,IfoundmyPomodoro.Ididn’twinthebetImadewithmyselfaboutstudyingrightaway.Infact,it

tooktimeandagreatdealofeffort,butintheendIsucceeded.In that first small step, I found something intriguing in the Pomodoro

mechanism.Withthisnewtool,Idevotedmyselftoimprovingmystudyprocessand later my work process. I tried to understand and solve more and morecomplex problems, to the point of considering the dynamics of teamwork.GraduallyIputtogetherthePomodoroTechnique,whichIdescribeinthisbook.Foryears I’ve taught thePomodoroTechnique inclassesopen to thepublic

andinteammentoring.Inthattime,generalinteresthasgrown.Moreandmorepeopleareaskingwhatitisandhowtoapplyit,andsothere’saneedformetoexplainthetechniqueasIconceivedit.Myhopeisthatitcanhelpothersreachtheirgoalsforpersonalimprovement.

FINTRODUCTION

or many people, time is an enemy. The anxiety triggered by the tickingclock, particularlywhen a deadline is involved, leads to ineffectivework andstudy behavior, which in turn elicits the tendency to procrastinate. ThePomodoroTechniquewascreatedwiththeaimofusingtimeasavaluableallytoaccomplishwhatwewanttodothewaywewanttodoitandtoempowerusto improve our work or study progress continuously. This book presents thePomodoroTechniqueas itwasdeveloped in1992andas ithasbeen taught toindividualssince1998andtoteamssince1999.TheFoundationssectiondelineates theproblemlinkedto timeandthegoals

of the Pomodoro Technique and its basic assumptions. The Reaching YourIndividual Goals section describes the Pomodoro Technique and shows howindividuals can apply it by completing incremental objectives. The ReachingYour TeamGoals section explains how to adapt the technique to a team anddescribes a series of practices to improve a team’s productivity. The Resultssection provides a series of observations that are based on the experiences ofpeople who have used the technique and identifies a number of factors thatexplainhowthetechniqueachievesitsgoals.

W

THECONTEXT

ho hasn’t experienced anxiety when faced with a task that has to befinishedbyadeadline?In thesecircumstances,whohasn’t felt theneed toputoff that task or fallen behind schedule or procrastinated?Who hasn’t had thatunpleasant sensation of dependingon time, chasing after appointments, givingupwhatonelovestodoforlackoftime?“Remember, Time is a greedy player who wins without cheating, every

round!” Baudelairewrote in his poem “The Clock.” Is this the true nature oftime?Or is itonlyoneof thepossibleways toconsider time?Moregenerally,whydopeoplehavesuchaprobleminthewaytheyrelatetotime?Wheredoesitcomefrom,thisanxietythatwe’veallexperiencedatthethoughtthattimeisslippingaway?Thinkers, philosophers, scientists—anyonewho’s taken on the challenge of

attemptingtodefinetimeandtherelationshipbetweenpeopleandtime—alwayshavebeenforcedtoadmitdefeat.Suchaninquiry,infact,isinevitablylimitedandnevercomplete.Fewhaveprovidedany truly insightfulperspectives.Twoprofoundlyinterrelatedaspectsseemtocoexistinregardtotime:

BECOMING.Anabstract,dimensionalaspectoftimethatgivesrisetothehabitofmeasuringtime(seconds,minutes,hours);theideaofrepresentingtimeonanaxis,aswewouldspatialdimensions;theconceptofthedurationofanevent(thedistancebetweentwopointsonthetemporal

axis);theideaofbeinglate(againthedistancebetweentwopointsonthetemporalaxis).1

THESUCCESSIONOFEVENTS.Aconcreteaspectoftemporalorder:Wewakeup,weshower,wehavebreakfast,westudy,wehavelunch,wehaveanap,weplay,weeat,andwegotobed.Childrencometohavethisnotionoftimebeforetheydeveloptheideaofabstracttimethatpassesregardlessoftheeventsthattakeplace.2

Of these two aspects, it is becoming that generates anxiety. It is by natureelusive,indefinite,infinite:Timepasses,slipsaway,movestowardthefuture.Ifwe try to measure ourselves against the passage of time, we feel inadequate,oppressed, enslaved, anddefeatedmoreandmorewithevery second thatgoesby.We loseour élanvital, the life force that enablesus to accomplish things:“TwohourshavegonebyandI’mstillnotdone;twodayshavegonebyandI’mstillnotdone.”Inmomentsofweakness,thepurposeoftheactivityathandisnolongerclear.Thesuccessionofeventsseemstobethelessanxiety-riddenaspectoftime.Attimesitmayevenrepresenttheregularsuccessionofactivity,acalm-inducingrhythm.

GOALSOFTHEPOMODOROTECHNIQUE

The aim of the Pomodoro Technique is to provide a simple tool/process forimproving productivity (your own and that of your team). It can do thefollowing:

AlleviateanxietylinkedtobecomingEnhancefocusandconcentrationbycuttingdownoninterruptionsIncreaseawarenessofone’sdecisionsBoostmotivationandkeepitconstantBolsterthedeterminationtoachieveone’sgoalsRefinetheestimationprocessinbothqualitativeandquantitativetermsImproveone’sworkorstudyprocessStrengthenone’sdeterminationtokeepapplyingoneselfincomplexsituations

BASICASSUMPTIONS

ThePomodoroTechniqueisfoundedonthreekeyelements:

ADIFFERENTWAYOFSEEINGTIMEthatnolongerisfocusedontheconceptofbecoming.Thisalleviatesanxietyandthusleadstoenhancedpersonaleffectiveness.BETTERUSEOFTHEMIND.Thisenablesustoachievegreaterclarityofthought,higherconsciousness,andsharperfocuswhilefacilitatinglearning.THEEMPLOYMENTOFEASY-TO-USE,UNOBTRUSIVETOOLS.Thisreducesthecomplexityofapplyingthetechniquewhilefavoringcontinuityandallowsustoconcentrateoureffortsonthegoalswewanttoaccomplish.Manytime-managementtechniquesfailbecausetheyaddanotherlevelofcomplexitytotheintrinsiccomplexityofthetaskathand.

TheprimaryinspirationforthePomodoroTechniquecamefromthefollowingideas:time-boxing;thecognitivetechniquesdescribedbyBuzan,3amongothers,relating to the way the mind works; and the dynamics of play outlined byGadamer.4NotionsrelatingtostructuringobjectivesandactivitiesincrementallyaredetailedinGilb.5

1HenriBergson,CreativeEvolution,BookJungle,2009.2EugèneMinkowski,LivedTime,NorthwesternUniversityPress,1970.3TonyBuzan,TheBrainUser’sGuide,Plume,1983.4Hans-GeorgGadamer,TruthandMethod,Continuum,2004.5TomGilb,PrinciplesofSoftwareEngineeringManagement,Addison-Wesley,1996.

TMATERIALANDMETHOD

heprocessunderlyingthePomodoroTechniqueconsistsoffivestages:

TABLE1:THESTAGESOFTHEPOMODOROTECHNIQUE

This basic procedure lasts one day but could take less time. In that case, the five

stageswouldtakeplacemorefrequently.

FIGURE1:THEPOMODORO

ToimplementthePomodoroTechnique,allyouneedisthefollowing:

APomodoro:akitchentimer(Figure1).AToDoTodaySheetfilledinatthestartofeachdaywiththefollowing:Aheadingwithplace,date,andauthor.Alistofthethingstododuringthedayinorderofpriority.Asectionlabeled“Unplanned&UrgentActivities”inwhichanyunexpectedtasksthathavetobedealtwithshouldbelistedastheycomeup.Theseactivitiescouldmodifytheday’splan.

AnActivityInventorySheetconsistingofthefollowing:Aheadingwiththenameoftheauthor.Anumberoflinesinwhichvariousactivitiesarewrittendownastheycomeup.Attheendoftheday,theonesthathavebeencompletedarecheckedoff.

ARecordsSheet.Thisisthesetofrawdataneededtoproducepertinentreportsandgraphics.Dependingontheobjectives,thiscontainsdifferentsetsofboxes.Normally,thissheetwouldincludethedate,thedescription,andthenumberofPomodorosofeffortneededtoaccomplishatask.Thissheetisupdatedatleastonceaday,usuallyattheendoftheday.

In the simple examples shown in this book, theRecording, Processing, andVisualizingstagesaredonedirectlyontheRecordsSheet.

Because of typographical constraints, the sheets used in this book show only the

entriesrelatingtothetopicinquestion.Simplemodelsofthesheetsdescribedhereare

providedattheendofthebookandcanbeusedtopracticethetechnique.

AnevolutionaryapproachtotheuseofthePomodoroTechniqueisprovidedin the following chapters, oriented to a progressive experimentation with thetechnique. Clearly, the incremental nature of the technique means that theobjectivesshouldbeachievedintheorderinwhichtheyaregivenhere.

T

OBJECTIVEI:FINDOUTHOWMUCHEFFORTANACTIVITY

REQUIRES

hetraditionalPomodorois30minuteslong:25minutesofworkplusa5-minutebreak.Atthebeginningofeachday,choosethetasksyouwanttotacklefromtheActivityInventorySheet,prioritizethem,andwrite themdownintheToDoTodaySheet(Figure2).

FIGURE2:TODOTODAYSHEET

STARTTHEFIRSTPOMODORO

SetthePomodorofor25minutesandstartthefirstactivityontheToDoTodaySheet.Whoever is using the Pomodoro, whether one person or more, shouldalwaysbeabletoseeclearlyhowmuchtimeisleft(Figure3).

FIGURE3:THETIMEREMAININGSHOULDALWAYSBEVISIBLE

A Pomodoro can’t be interrupted: It marks 25 minutes of pure work. APomodoro can’t be split up: There is no such thing as half a Pomodoro or aquarter of a Pomodoro. The atomic unit of time is a Pomodoro. (Rule: APomodoro is indivisible.) If a Pomodoro is interrupted by someone orsomething,thatPomodoroshouldbeconsideredvoid,asifithadneverbeenset;thenyoushouldmakeafreshstartwithanewPomodoro.WhenthePomodororings,markan“X”nexttotheactivityyou’vebeenworkingonandtakeabreakfor 3 to 5 minutes. When the Pomodoro rings, this signals that the currentactivity isdefinitely(though temporarily) finished.You’renotallowed tokeeponworking“forjustafewmoreminutes”evenifyou’reconvincedthatinthosefewminutesyoucouldcompletethetaskathand.

FIGURE4:THEFIRSTPOMODORO

The3-to5-minutebreakgivesyouthetimeyouneedtodisconnectfromyourwork. This allows yourmind to assimilatewhat’s been learned in the last 25minutes and also gives you a chance to do something good for your health,whichwillhelpyoudoyourbestduringthenextPomodoro.Duringthisbreakyoucanstandupandwalkaroundtheroom,haveadrinkofwater,orfantasizeabout where you’ll go on your next vacation. You can do deep breathing orstretchingexercises.Ifyouworkwithotherpeople,youcanswapajokeortwo.Duringthisquickbreakit’snotagoodideatoengageinactivitiesthatrequire

significantmentaleffort.Forexample,don’ttalkaboutwork-relatedissueswithacolleague,don’twriteimportante-mailsormakeurgentphonecalls,andsoon.DoingthesekindsofthingswouldblocktheconstructivementalintegrationthatyouneedtofeelalertandreadyforthestartofthenextPomodoro.Youshouldinclude these activities in your Activity Inventory and earmark specificPomodoros for doing them. Clearly, during this break you shouldn’t continuethinkingaboutwhatyou’vedoneduringthelastPomodoros.Oncethebreakisover,setthePomodoroto25minutesandcontinuetheactivityathanduntilthenexttimeitrings.Thenmarkanother“X”ontheToDoTodaySheet(Figure5).

FIGURE5:THESECONDPOMODORO

Takea3-to5-minutebreakandthenstartanewPomodoro.

EVERYFOURPOMODOROS

Every four Pomodoros, stop the activity you’reworking on and take a longerbreak,from15to30minutes.The 15-to 30-minute break provides an ideal opportunity to tidy your desk,

takeatriptothecoffeemachine,listentovoicemail,checkincominge-mails,orsimplyrestanddobreathingexercisesortakeawalk.Theimportantthingisnottodoanythingcomplex;otherwiseyourmindwon’tbeable to reorganizeandintegratewhatyou’velearned,andasaresultyouwon’tbeabletogivethenextPomodoro your best effort. Obviously, during this break you need to stopthinkingaboutwhatyoudidduringthelastPomodoros.

FIGURE6:THEENDOFTHEFIRSTSETOFPOMODOROS

COMPLETINGANACTIVITY

Keeponworking,PomodoroafterPomodoro,untilthetaskisfinishedandthencrossitoutontheToDoTodaySheet(Figure7).

FIGURE7:COMPLETINGANACTIVITY

Specificcasesshouldbehandledwithcommonsense:

IfyoufinishataskwhilethePomodoroisstillticking,thefollowingruleapplies:IfaPomodorobegins,ithastoring.It’sagoodideatotakeadvantageoftheopportunityforoverlearning,usingtheremainingportionofthePomodorotorevieworrepeatwhatyou’vedone,makesmallimprovements,andnotewhatyou’velearneduntilthePomodororings.Ifyoufinishanactivityinthefirst5minutesofthePomodoroandfeelthetaskactuallywasfinishedduringthepreviousPomodoroandrevisionwouldn’tbeworthwhile,asanexceptiontotherule,thecurrentPomodorodoesn’thavetobeincludedinthePomodorocount.

FIGURE8:COMPLETINGSEVERALACTIVITIES

Oncethecurrentactivityhasbeencompleted,moveontothenextoneonthelist and then the next, taking breaks after every Pomodoro and every fourPomodoros(Figure8).

RECORDING

Attheendofeveryday,thecompletedPomodoroscanbetransferredtoahard-copyarchive.Asanalternative,itmaybemoreconvenienttouseanelectronicspreadsheetoradatabaseanddelete thecompletedactivities fromtheActivityInventory Sheet. What you track and record depends on what you want toobserveandthekindsofreportsyouwanttogenerate.Theinitialaimoftrackingand later recording could be simply to present a report with the number ofPomodoroscompletedpertask.Inotherwords,youmaywanttoshowtheeffortexpended to accomplish each activity. To do that, you can use the followingboxes:thedate,thestarttime,thetypeofactivity,adescriptionoftheactivity,the actual number of Pomodoros, a short note on the results achieved, andpossibleroomforimprovementorproblemsthatmayhavecomeup(Figure9).Thisinitialrecordingmodelactuallyrepresentsthereportyouwant.It’seasytodrawitupevenonpaper.

FIGURE9:RECORDSSHEET

HowdidMarkfillinthetimehebegananactivityifhedidn’ttrackit?WiththePomodoroTechnique,it’snotessentialtotrackthestarttimeforanactivity(orforeveryPomodoro).What’simportantistotrackthenumberofPomodorosactuallycompleted:therealeffort.ThispointisthekeytounderstandingthePomodoroTechnique.Sincetrackingisdoneatleastonceaday,rememberingandreconstructingthestarttimesforactivitiesisn’tdifficult;infact,thiskindofrecallisabeneficialmentalexercise.

Ausefultechniqueforrememberingstarttimesistodoarundownofthedaybeginning

withthemostrecentactivityandmovingbackwardtothefirstone.

IMPROVEMENT

Recording provides an effective tool for people who apply the PomodoroTechnique in terms of self-observation and decisionmaking aimed at processimprovement.Forexample,youcanaskyourselfhowmanyPomodorosaweekyou spend on work activities and on explorative activities, how many

Pomodoros you do on an average day of the week, and so on. You also candetermine whether the stages in the process are all effective or whether onecouldbeeliminatedwhileyouachievethesameresults.Forinstance,wecanseeinFigure9thatittookMark10Pomodorostowrite,

fine-tune,andcondensethearticle“HowtoLearnMusic.”Thatseemsliketoomany.MarkwouldliketogetthesameresultwithninePomodorosorless.ThenhewouldhaveoneormorePomodorosoffreetimeforotheractivities.“I’dliketotrytowritethenextarticlewiththesamequalityandlesseffort.How?WhatshouldIcutout?Whatactivitiesarereallyuseful?HowcanIreorganizethemtobemoreeffective?”Thesearethetypesofquestionsthatenablepeopletoimprove,oratleasttry

toimprove,theirworkorstudyprocesses.Attheendoftheday,theactivityofrecording(andlaterlookingforwaystoimprove)shouldnottakemorethanonePomodoro.

THENATUREOFTHEPOMODORO

The Pomodoro marks the passage of time, and so it is a measure of thedimensionof time. Itbecomesameasureof thedimensionofeffortwhen it iscombinedwiththenumberofpeopleinvolvedinanactivity.Dependingonthisnumber, we can say that a task was accomplished with a certain number ofPersonPomodoros or Pair Pomodoros orTeamPomodoros,where these unitsmeasure effort.Thequantitiesof effort relative todifferentnumbersofpeopleare not homogeneous; they can’t be added together or compared with oneanother.Thework of an individual, a pair, or a group represents a differentway of

combining production factors and implies diverse means of communication.Thereareno formulas forconvertingPersonPomodoros toPairPomodorosorTeamPomodoros.

Let’s say we want to measure the cost of an activity performed by more than one

person individually, in pairs, or in teams. By applying amonetarymeasurement,we

cancompareandaddupthedifferentamountsofeffort.Forexample,takeanactivity

that’sachievedbytheeffortof twoPersonPomodorosandthreePairPomodoros. In

termsof effort, these amounts cannot be compared directly or summed in anyway.

However,byassigningamonetaryvaluefortheeffortofonePomodoro,forexample,

$10.00,wecansaythattheactivitycosts2×$10.00+3×2×$10.00=$80.00.

T

OBJECTIVEII:CUTDOWNONINTERRUPTIONS

he length of a Pomodoro—25 minutes—seems short enough to make itpossible to resist being distracted by various kinds of interruptions. However,experience shows that once you’ve started using the Pomodoro Technique,interruptions can become a real problem. That’s why an effective strategy isneeded to minimize interruptions and progressively increase the number ofPomodoros that can be accomplished consistentlywithout interruptions. Therearetwokindsofinterruptions:internalandexternal.

INTERNALINTERRUPTIONS

EventhoughaPomodorolastsonly25minutes,itwon’tbeeasyforeveryonetofinish the first few Pomodoros without giving in to an immediate need tointerrupt theactivityathand: theneed tostandupandgetsomething toeatordrink, tomakeacall that suddenlyseemsurgent, to lookupsomethingon theInternet(itmayberelatedorunrelatedtothetaskathand),ortocheckone’se-mails. Finally, we might even need to rethink how we’ve prioritized thisparticular activity;we’re constantly second-guessing our daily planningor ourdecisions.These kinds of distractions, or ways to procrastinate during the activity at

hand, are called internal interruptions. They generally disguise our fear of notbeingabletofinishwhatwe’reworkingonthewaywewantandwhenwewant.Internal interruptions often are associated with having little ability to

concentrate.How can we free ourselves from these internal interruptions? We have to

workontwofronts:

1. Maketheseinterruptionsclearlyvisible.Everytimeyoufeelapotentialinterruptioncomingon,putanapostrophe(’)onthesheetwhereyourecordyourPomodoros.

2. Makeadecisionaboutwhattodo.Youcanchoosetodooneofthefollowing:WritedownthenewactivityontheToDoTodaySheetunder“Unplanned&Urgent”ifyouthinkit’simminentandcan’tbeputoff.WriteitdownintheActivityInventory,markingitwitha“U”(unplanned);addadeadlineifnecessary.IntensifyyourdeterminationtofinishthecurrentPomodoro.Onceyou’vemarkedtheapostrophe,continueworkingonthetasktillthePomodororings.(Rule:OnceaPomodorobegins,ithastoring.)

Theaimistoacceptthefactthatneedsdoemergeandshouldn’tbeneglected.Lookatthemobjectivelyandifpossiblereschedulethemforanothertime.

SCENARIO

Anexamplewillclarify thedynamicofhandling internal interruptions.Duringthe second Pomodoro for writing the article “How to Learn Music,” Marksuddenlyfeels thathehas tocallhisfriendCarol tofindoutwhenhisfavoriterockgroupisgivingitsnextconcert.Markaskshimself:“Isthisreallyurgent?DoIhavetodoittoday?No,Icanputitoff.Maybeanhourortwo.Maybeevenuntiltomorrow.”MarkputsanapostropheontheToDoTodaySheetnexttothecurrentactivity(Figure10),addsanitemtotheActivityInventoryforunplannedactivities(markedwitha“U”—Figure11),andcontinueswiththePomodoro.

FIGURE10:ANINTERNALINTERRUPTION

FIGURE11:ANUNPLANNEDACTIVITY

ThenMarkaskshimself: “Does this activityhave tobedoneby tomorrow?No, it justhas tobedoneby theendof theweek.”Markadds thisdeadline inbracketsnexttothe“U”(Figure12).

FIGURE12:ANUNPLANNEDACTIVITYWITHADEADLINE

IfMarkgetsasuddencravingforapizza10minutes later,he’llmarkdownanother apostrophe, but this time he’ll note this activity on the ToDo TodaySheetunder“Unplanned&Urgent”(Figure13).ThenMarkwillcontinuewithhisPomodoro.

FIGURE13:ANURGENTINTERNALINTERRUPTION

Until this point, the Pomodoro hasn’t been interrupted. It’s kept on ticking,andMark has continuedworking, dealingwith interruptions. Clearly, as littletime as possible should be spent dealing with interruptions: a few seconds atmost.OtherwisethePomodorohastobeconsideredinterruptedorvoid.Finally,thePomodororings.Markrecordsitwithan“X”andtakesaquickbreak(Figure14).

Mark decides tomove on to the next Pomodoro. Eight potential interruptionsawaithimduringthethirdPomodoro,butfortunately,hedealswiththemall:Heclassifiesoneactivityasnoturgentandrecordsit intheActivityInventory;hehasnochoicebuttocategorizetheotherinterruptionsasurgent(Figure15).

FIGURE14:URGENTINTERNALINTERRUPTION,SECONDPOMODORO

The urgency of the activities listed in Figure 15 might make some peoplesmile, but that’s the way Mark perceives them. The point is that with the

PomodoroTechnique,lotsofusefulorfunthingstodocomeup,butwemakeaconsciousdecisionnottodothemduringthecurrentPomodoro.When we read through the various activities and the urgency we assign to

each,wecanseehowmuchourmindsaremovingandhowhard it is tokeepthem still and focus on the activity at hand.Often, the number and variety ofattemptedinternalinterruptionsaresymptomsofourfearoffailuretocompletethetaskathand.

FIGURE15:SEVERALURGENTINTERNALINTERRUPTIONS

Itshouldcomeasnosurprisethatmanyofthesedistractionslaterprovetobeanythingbuturgenteventothepersonwhowrotethemdown.MostlikelyattheendofthePomodoroortheactivityortheday,severalitemsmarkedurgentor

absoluteprioritywillbehandledindifferentways:

They’llbemovedtotheActivityInventory.Maybewecanpickoutabiketomorrow.They’llbedoneduringlongerbreaks.That’sthetimetolookupjazzconcertsinChicagoinJuly,forexample.They’llbedeleted.DoesMarkreallywanttoorderapizzaalongwithspringrollsandPekingduck?Hemightevenrealizethathedoesn’twanttoorderanythingandwilleatattheendoftheday.

It’sadifferentmindthatreadsoverthoseitemsattheendofaPomodoro,oraset of four, or at the end of the day. The new perspective is sometimessurprising.TrulyurgenttasksarealwayshighlightedontheToDoTodaySheet.TheaimofthePomodoroTechniqueistoensurethatthecurrentPomodoroisn’tinterruptedbytheseactivities.Instead,thefollowingoptionsareavailable:

TheycanbedoneduringthenextPomodoro(butstillmeasuredbyaPomodoro)inplaceofotheractivities.Theycanberescheduledduringthedayinplaceofotheractivities.TheycanbemovedfromPomodorotoPomodorotilltheendoftheday.Thishelpsusgraduallylearntorecognizewhat’sreallyurgent.

Ifandwhenunplannedurgentactivitiesaredoneduringtheday,therelativePomodorosaremarkeddownintheproperspace(Figure16).

FIGURE16:UNPLANNEDACTIVITYDONEDURINGTHEDAY

Inall thecasesdiscussedso far, the interruptionscanbeconsidered tohavebeen handled. Note that the mechanism for handling interruptions consists ofinverting the dependency on internal interruptions and consequently makingtheseinterruptionsdependonthePomodorosintowhichwedecidetoslotthem.

If you have to interrupt a Pomodoro because you give in to temptation orsomethingtrulyurgentcomesup,there’sonlyonethingtodo:VoidthecurrentPomodoroeven if it’sabout to ring. (Rule:APomodoro is indivisible.)Thenmark an apostrophe where Pomodoros are recorded to keep track of theinterrupted Pomodoro.Obviously, you can’tmark the unfinished Pomodoro—whichdidn’tactuallyring—withan“X,”sotakea5-minutebreakandstartwithanewPomodoro.ThenextPomodorowillgobetter.

The firstobjective incuttingdownon interruptions is tobeawareof thenumberand

typeofinternalinterruptions.Observethem,acceptthem,andschedulethemordelete

themasthecasemaybe.

EXTERNALINTERRUPTIONS

Peoplewhoworkinsocialenvironmentscanbeinterrupted:Yourstudypartnerasks you to explain a paragraph or suggests going to a movie after dinner, aphonecallisn’tfilteredbythesecretary,acolleagueasksyouhowtocompileareport, an e-mail program beeps every time a new message comes in. Whatshouldyoudo?External interruptions call for the ability to “protect” the tickingPomodoro.

Untilnowamajorefforthasbeenmadetoeliminateinternalinterruptions.Nowtheriskisthatsomeoneontheoutsidewillpreventyoufromhavingthepleasureofmarkingan“X”onyourToDoTodaySheet.Themain difference between internal and external interruptions is thatwith

thelatterweneedtointeractwithotherpeople:Weneedtocommunicate.Themechanismfordealingwithexternalinterruptionsisthesameasthatforinternalones:Invertthedependencyoninterruptionsandmaketheinterruptionsdependonus.Afewexampleswillclarifywhatweneedtodo.Incomingphonecallscanbe

takenby theansweringmachine, and themessagescanbe listened to later.E-mails can keep coming in without distracting our attention if you simplydeactivate the acoustic signals for incomingmessages. If a colleague or studypartnercomesover,youcanpolitelysayyou’rebusyandcan’tbe interrupted.

(Somepeopleusehumorbysaying,“I’minthemiddleofaPomodoro.”)Thentellthepersonthatyou’drathercallhimorherbackin25minutes,ina

fewhours,ortomorrow,dependingonhowurgentandimportantthematteris.Speakingfromexperience,trueemergenciesthatneedtobedealtwithinstantlyare rare in real life.A 25-minute or 2-hour delay (four Pomodoros) is almostalwayspossible foractivities thatarecommonlyconsideredurgent.Thisdelayisn’tusuallydetrimentaltothepersonwhowantstocommunicatewithyoubutgives you an enormous advantage in terms of making your mind workeffectively, finishing activities the way you want to, and rescheduling urgenttasks. With practice, you’ll come to realize how often apparently urgentactivities can even be postponed until the next day while still satisfying thepersonmakingtherequest.Thus,Protect thePomodoromeans informeffectively,negotiatequickly to

reschedule the interruption, and call back the person who interrupted you asagreed. The Inform, Negotiate, Call Back Strategy enables you to controlexternalinterruptionsbyreschedulingtheminalaterPomodorothesamedayoranotherdayaccording to thedegreeofurgency.Thedependency inversion forinterruptions lies in this mechanism: We’re no longer dependent oninterruptions; interruptions depend on us (i.e., the Pomodoros we allocate forcallingback).The feedback from people who start applying the Pomodoro Technique is

often the same: They discover that they can have 10 or even 15 externalinterruptions during a single Pomodoro (25 minutes). If the people doing theinterruptinglearnthatyou’llreallycallthembackandarenotjustputtingthemoff, itwon’t takelongtoseeourhabitual interruptersprotectingthePomodorotoo.Many peoplewhowork or studywith Pomodoro users say they have thefeeling that they’redealingwithpeoplewhoappreciate thevalueof theirowntime.Inoperationalterms,handlingthistypeofinterruptionislikedealingwithinternalinterruptions.Inthiscase,too,weworkontwofronts:

1. Maketheseinterruptionsclearlyvisible.EverytimesomeoneorsomethingtriestointerruptaPomodoro,putadash(–)onthesheetwhereyourecordyourPomodoros.

2. Makeadecisionaboutwhattodo.Youcanchoosetodooneofthefollowing:WritedownthenewactivityontheToDoTodaySheetunder

“Unplanned&Urgent”ifithastobedonetoday,addingthepromiseddeadlineinbracketsintheleft-handmargin.WriteitdownintheActivityInventory,markingitwitha“U”(unplanned);addadeadlineinbracketsifnecessary.IntensifyyourdeterminationtofinishthePomodoro.Onceyou’vemarkedthedash,continueworkingonthetaskuntilthePomodororings.

Thisway,you’llachieve theobjectiveof remembering thecommitmentyoumade,aswellasmeasuringdailyexternalinterruptions,withoutinterruptingthePomodoro. The following example shows two external interruptions thatwerehandled in different ways during the second Pomodoro of “Write an Articletitled‘HowtoLearnMusic’”(Figures17and18).

FIGURE17:ANUNPLANNEDURGENTACTIVITY

FIGURE18:ANUNPLANNEDACTIVITYWITHADEADLINE

IfaPomodoroabsolutelyhastobeinterruptedbecauseofhumanweaknessorforarealemergency, there’sonlyone thing todo:Void thecurrentPomodoroevenif it’sabout toring.(Rule:APomodorois indivisible.)ThenputadashwhereyourecordPomodorostokeeptrackofinterruptedPomodorosandrecordthe description and the deadline for the activity in the Unplanned & Urgentsection.ThenstartthefirstPomodorofortheurgentactivity.ThenextPomodorowillgobetter.

Thesecondobjectivetoachieveinordertocutdownoninterruptionsistobeawareof

the number and type of external interruptions.Negotiate them and reschedule them

dependingonthedegreeofurgency.

SYSTEMATICINTERRUPTIONS

InapplyingthePomodoroTechnique,thefirsttangibleconsequenceofhavingtodeal systematically with internal and external interruptions is that Pomodorosearmarked for organizational activities will emerge (e-mails, phone calls,meetings,etc.).ThemostnaturalandmostcommondecisionistosetasideonePomodoroaday(ormoreifnecessary)totakecareofurgentinterruptions.Thedependency inversion mechanism applied to protect the current Pomodoroactually serves to turn interruptions into Pomodoros dedicated to forms ofcommunication.We should emphasize here that Pomodoro users have the following

objectives:

TodelaythesePomodorosaslongaspossible,downgradingthedegreeofapparenturgencyandincreasingtheextenttowhichtheseactivitiescanbecontrolledandscheduledTocutdowngraduallyonthenumberofPomodorosusedfororganizingtheinterruptionsthatcomeupthroughouttheday

Peoplewho start applying the Pomodoro Technique are amazedwhen theymeasure the Pomodoros spent on work and study (without unhandled

interruptions) and those used for organizational activities (which in part comefromdealingwithinterruptions).Insometeams,membersstartoffwithnomorethan two to three Pomodoros dedicated to work per day per person; theremainingPomodorosarespentonmeetings,phonecalls,ande-mails.

RECORDING:QUALITATIVEESTIMATIONERRORSINPLANNINGLook at the activities recorded daily and marked with a “U” in the ActivityInventory and the ones marked “Unplanned & Urgent” on the To Do TodaySheet. Ifyoudo this,during theplanningphaseyoucanassessyourability toidentifythenumbersandtypesofactivitiesthataremosteffectiveinreachingaspecificobjective.Thegreaterthenumberofunplannedactivitiesinvolved,thegreater thequalitativeerror inyour initialestimate.Thus,youcanmeasure theunplanned activities done to attain a certain objective. Clearly, you also caninclude the total number of internal and external interruptions on theRecordsSheettoobservethemandtrytominimizethemovertime.

O

OBJECTIVEIII:ESTIMATETHEEFFORTFORACTIVITIES

nceyou’vebeguntomasterthetechniqueandhaveachievedthefirsttwoobjectives, you can start working on quantitative estimates. The long-termobjectivehereistopredicttheeffortthatanactivityrequires.TheActivityInventorylistsalltheactivitiesthatneedtobedone.Thesetasks

comefromplanning,whichisneededtoidentifywaystoreachyourobjectives(e.g.,at thebeginningofaproject)anddealwithinterruptions.Someactivitieslosetheirpurposeovertime,andsotheycanbedeletedfromtheinventory.Atthe start of each day, estimate how many Pomodoros each activity in theinventorywilltake.Revisepreviousestimatesifnecessary.RecordtheestimatednumberofPomodorosontherelative line(Figure19).ThePomodoroestimateactually represents the number of Pomodoros needed for a certain number ofpeopletoaccomplishanactivity.Thus,thisisameasureofeffort.However,inthesimpleexamplesthatfollow,thenumberofPomodorosalwaysreferstooneperson.

FIGURE19:DAILYESTIMATE

EstimatesalwaysmustbebasedoncompletePomodoros,andsofiguressuchas 5½ Pomodoros aren’t allowed. In this case, count six Pomodoros. If anestimateisgreaterthanfivetosevenPomodoros,thismeansthattheactivityistoo complex. It’s better tobreak it down into several activities, estimate thoseactivities separately, and write them down on several lines in the ActivityInventory.Theruleis:IfittakesmorethanfivetosevenPomodoros,breakitdown. Ifyoudothis,notonlydosingleactivitiesbecomelesscomplex,butestimatesbecomemoreaccurate.Thiseffect ismagnifiedwhenthebreakdown

involves incremental activities, not simply smaller activities. (Incrementalactivities deliver a little value at a time.) If the estimate is less than onePomodoro (e.g., the time it takes to call Laura to invite her to thethermodynamics seminar or call Mark to ask him to give back the laptop),similaractivitiesshouldbecombinedtilltheyadduptoonePomodoroofeffort.Theruleis:IfittakeslessthanonePomodoro,additup.Thus,therearetwooptionsforactivitiesestimatedtolastlessthanonePomodoro:

FindandcombinesimilaractivitiesfromtheActivityInventoryuntiltheyadduptoonePomodoroofeffort(Figure20).Leavetheactivitywithoutanestimateandindicatethatyou’llcombineitwithanotheractivitywhenyoufillintheToDoTodaySheet.

In choosing a strategy, remember that one of the functions of the ActivityInventory is to facilitate the choice of activities To Do Today. Take the firstoptioniftheactivitiesinquestionareverysimilarorcomplementary;leavetheothertaskswithoutanestimateandcombinethemlater.Inanycase,thegreaterthenumberofusefulactivitiesyouhaveintheActivityInventory,thesimpleritwillbetochoosewhichstrategytouseandhowtocombinethevarioustasks.

FIGURE20:ACTIVITIESESTIMATEDATLESSTHANONEPOMODORO

AnychangestotheActivityInventorycanbemadewithagoodpencilandanexcellent

eraser.

AVAILABLEPOMODOROS

Nowthatyouhaveanestimateof thenumberofPomodoros foreachactivity,you can put together a set of activities that doesn’t exceed the number ofPomodorosavailableinaday.RecordtheseavailablePomodorosontheToDoTodaySheet;younormallywoulddothisbeforeactuallylistingthethingstodo.Figure21showsanexampleofeightPomodorosavailableonJuly12.Thenpickout the tasks to do for the day, combining activities if necessary. (Rule: If ittakeslessthanonePomodoro,additup.)Writetheactivitiesyou’vechoseninorder of priority on the To Do Today Sheet. For each one, every estimated

Pomodoroisrepresentedbyanemptybox(Figure21).

FIGURE21:ESTIMATEDPOMODOROS

There’s no point adding activities beyond the total estimate of eightPomodoros.IfthenumberofestimatedPomodorosishigherthanthenumberofPomodoros needed to complete the activities, the remaining number ofPomodoroscanbeconsideredonlyafteryou’re finished.Thenyoucanchoosetasksfromtheinventorytofillinthatextratime.

POSSIBLESCENARIOS

Setthetimerand,asalways,beginwiththefirstactivityonyourlist.EverytimethePomodororings,putan“X”inthefirstemptybox(Figure22).

FIGURE22:FIRSTPOMODOROESTIMATEDANDACCOMPLISHED

Ifyoufinish theactivity in theexactnumberofestimatedPomodoros,crossoutthedescriptionoftheactivity(Figure23).

FIGURE23:ACTIVITIESDONEINTHEEXACTNUMBEROFESTIMATEDPOMODOROS

If you finish the activity in fewer Pomodoros than you estimated

(overestimationerror),crossoutthedescriptionoftheactivity(Figure24).

FIGURE24:OVERESTIMATION

If you’ve used up the estimated Pomodoros and need more Pomodoros tofinish the taskyou’reworkingon (quantitativeunderestimationerror),youcandooneoftwothings:

ContinueandmarkdownthenextPomodoroswithouttakingintoaccountnewestimates.Figure25showsacaseinwhichanotherPomodoroisneededtocompleteanactivity.MakeanewestimateinPomodorosandmarkthesenewestimatedPomodorostotherightofthelastestimatedandcompletedPomodoro,usingadifferentcolororshape.Thiswayyoucanhighlighttheneedforsecondorthirdestimatesandverifyrelativeerrors(Figure26).

FIGURE25:UNDERESTIMATION

FIGURE26:SECONDESTIMATE

AsyoucanseeinFigure27,thesummarytookLucyfourPomodoros,threeofwhich were estimated originally (underestimation) and only one of the twowhichwasestimatedlater(overestimation).

FIGURE27:FINISHINGTHEACTIVITYWITHTHESECONDESTIMATE

Sincetasksnormallydon’tlastmorethansevenestimatedPomodoros(Rule:If it takes more than five to seven Pomodoros, break it down), there areusually no more than three estimates. All the activities that require a thirdestimatehavetobereconsideredcarefullytounderstandwhyestimatingwassocomplicated.

RECORDINGESTIMATES

Nowthatwe’veintroducedtheconceptofquantitativeestimates,theobjectivesofthereportingsystemcanbemoreambitious.Newobjectivescouldincludethefollowing:

Tomeasuretheaccuracyofestimates,analyzingthegapbetweenestimatedeffortandactualeffort(estimationerror)foreveryactivityToshowwheremoreestimateswereneeded(secondorthirdestimates)

NowtheRecordsSheethastobemodified.Dependingonthecase,thereportcould show estimates, actual effort, and related error. Two simple options for

visualizingthisinformationfollow(Figures28and29).

FIGURE28:FIRSTESTIMATEONLY

Therearemanypossiblewaystopresenttheresultsthatyou’retracking.Thecomplexity of the reporting objectives is not too high, and reports can beobtaineddirectly from theRecordsSheetwith just a fewcalculationsdonebyhand.Themorecomplexthecalculationsare,themoreyou’llwanttomakeuseof databases, spreadsheets, and ad hoc software applications. Remember:Alwaysmakerecordingactivityassimpleaspossible.

FIGURE29:FIRSTANDSECONDESTIMATES

Thefirstobjectiveofimprovingquantitativeestimatesistoeliminatethethirdestimate

and keep the overall margin of error small. The next objective is to eliminate the

secondestimate,againkeepingtheoverallmarginoferrorsmall.Thefinalobjectiveis

toreducethemarginoferrorinthefirstestimate.

MANAGINGEXPLORATION

Not every activity can be estimated. At the outset of a new project or studyactivity, it’s especially beneficial to spend time on exploration: Look for newsources,getanideaofthestructureofthetextsyouhavetostudyorconsult,anddefine your objectives more clearly. To guide exploration, it’s worthwhile toapply the concept of time-boxing. Decide on a number of Pomodoros forcompletingyour exploration.When thesePomodoros are finished, set upyour

real work plan or start on a specific activity or decide if you want to keepexploringandwhatdirectionyouwanttotake.

W

OBJECTIVEIV:MAKETHEPOMODOROMOREEFFECTIVE

henyoucanusethePomodorosystematicallywithoutinterruptionsandyou start tomaster estimating, you can evolve the Pomodoro Technique evenfurther.

THESTRUCTUREOFTHEPOMODORO

ThefirstevolutionhastodowiththestructureofthePomodoro.Thefirst3to5minutes of each Pomodoro can be used to repeat brieflywhat you’ve learnedsince the beginning of the activity (not just the last Pomodoro) and then toimprintthisinyourmemory.Thelast3to5minutesofaPomodorocanbeusedtoreviewquicklywhatyou’vedone(ifpossible,withaneffect-causeprocedure,startingfromthelastactivitiesandgoingbacktoyourinitialmotivations).These changes don’t require variations in the length of the 25-minute

Pomodoro. The enhanced awareness of time you can achieve by using thePomodorowill enableyou to sensephysiologically the3-to5-minute intervalsmentionedabove.Ifyouhaveahardtimedoingthis,itmaybeasignthatyouhaven’tmasteredthebasictechnique.

The last fewminutesof thePomodoroallowyou to reviewwhat you’vedone. If you

wanttocheckthequalityandmethodsofyourworktopinpointpotentialimprovement,

youshouldplanoneortwoPomodorosforthistask.(Quickerobservationsaremade

dailyduringtherecordingPomodoro.)

THESTRUCTUREOFTHEPOMODOROSETThereisasecondevolutionthathastodowiththefour-Pomodoroset.Aswasdescribed above, the first Pomodoro in a set of four, or part of this firstPomodoro,canbeusedtorepeatwhatyou’vedonesofar.Similarly,allorpartofthelastPomodorointhesetcanbeusedtoreviewwhatyou’veaccomplished.Repetitionandrevisionactivitiesaremoreeffectiveifyoudothemaloudorbytalking with a partner or a member of your team. Systematic repetition andrevisionstimulatestheeffectsofoverlearning,facilitatingtheacquisitionofnewinformation.

T

OBJECTIVEV:SETUPATIMETABLE

here are a number of reasons you should never underestimate theimportanceofdefiningandrespectingatimetable:

Atimetablesetsalimit.Limits(whenthey’retrulyunderstoodasinviolable)helpusbeconcrete,dothings.Theymotivateustodoourbesttocompletethetasksbeforeuswithinasetperiod.ThesamethinghappenswhenthePomodororings.Atimetabledelineatestheseparationbetweenworktimeandfreetime;thelatterisbestdefinedastimesetasidefornon-goal-orientedorunplannedactivities.Thisleisuretimeisfuelforourminds.Withoutit,creativity,interest,andcuriosityarelostandwerunourselvesdownuntilourenergyisdepleted.Withoutgas,theenginewon’trun.Atimetablemeasurestheresultsoftheday.Oncewe’vewrittenuptheToDoTodaySheet,ourgoalistocarryouttheactivitieslistedonitwiththehighestpossiblequalitywithinthesettimeframe.Iftimerunsoutandtheseactivitiesaren’tdone,wetrytounderstandwhatwentwrong.Inthemeantime,wehaveaninvaluablepieceofinformation:howmanyPomodoroswemanagedtoworkthatday.

With thePomodoroTechnique, figuring out howmuch time iswasted isn’timportant; howmany Pomodoros we’ve accomplished is. The next day, keepthatnumberinmindwhenyouaredecidinghowmanyPomodorosareavailableandwritedownactivitiestofillonlythosePomodoros.

Themain riskwith the timetable isunderestimatinghowimportant it is; it’seasy to fall into the trapofnot respecting it.Forexample, let’ssay it’s3p.m.You’velosttimeduringtheday,andyouknowyouhaven’tproducedasmuchas you could have or as much as you expected. Therefore, you tell yourself:“TodayI’llworklatetomakeupforlosttime.”Acombinationofheroismandguilt makes you breach the limit set by the timetable; as a result, yourperformanceisineffectivetonight,thentomorrownight,andthenthenightafterthat. Themore the timetable is systematically prolonged, themore the overallresults will diminish. Guilt intensifies. Why? Isn’t playing the hero enough?Don’tthehourssacrificedinthenameofworkassuagetheguilt?Actually, what emerges is a dangerous vicious circle: The timetable is

protracted, fatigue increases, productivity drops, and the timetable again isprotracted. First and foremost, an effective timetable must be respected. Atimetablecanbemadeupofaseriesoftimeslots,eachdedicatedtoadifferenttypeofactivity.RespectingatimetablemeansdevelopingimmunitytotheFiveMoreMinutes Syndrome.When a time slot ends, just aswhen the Pomodororings,allactivitystops.NomatterhowmuchtimeisstillleftonyourPomodoro,the same rule applies: The Timetable Always Overrides the Pomodoro.Second, an effective timetable has to allow for the free time that you need torecuperate.

Itmayhappen that an important deadline comesupand you find yourself having to

work longer hours. This overtime can be factored into your timetable to increase

productivitymomentarily.Typically,toachievepositiveresultsandavoidtheriskofthe

viciouscirclementionedabove,youshouldn’tworkovertimeformorethanfivedaysin

arow.Establishanadhoctimetableforthisperiodandsetasidearecoveryperiodto

dealwiththedropinproductivitythatinevitablywillfollow.

THEBEST-CASESCENARIOLet’susethefollowingtimetableasanexample:8:30–1:00,2:00–5:30.It’s8:30.AlbertwindsupthefirstPomodorooftheday.HemightusethisPomodorotolook over all the things he did the day before and to skim over the ActivityInventory and fill in the To Do Today Sheet, which also will include thisplanning activity. In this same organizational Pomodoro, Albert checks thateverything on his desk is in place and ready and tidies it if it’s not. The

Pomodororings,“X,”break.AnotherPomodorobegins:thefirstoperationalPomodoro.Andsoitgoesfor

two more Pomodoros. The four-Pomodoro set is over, followed by a longerbreak.Despite thefact thathewants tokeepworking,Albertdecides to takeabit more downtime in anticipation of the intense workday ahead. Instead oftakingonlytheminimum15-minutebreak,hetakes20minutes.HethenwindsupanewPomodoro.HecontinuesforatotaloffourPomodorosandthencheckshiswatch.It’s12:53.Hehasjustenoughtimetotidyhisdeskagain,putawayanypapersthatneedtobefiled,andcheckthattheToDoTodaySheetisfilledoutclearlyandproperlybeforehegoestolunch.By2:00Albertisathisdeskagain.HewindsupthePomodoroandgetsback

towork.Hedoesn’ttakemuchofabreakbetweenonePomodoroandthenext.Butafterfourringshestartsfeelingtired.HestillhasafewmorePomodoros

togo.Hewantstogetagoodrest,andhetriestodisconnectasbesthecanbytakingawalk.Thirtyminuteslater,AlbertwindsupanewPomodoro.Itrings,“X,”break.Albertsetsaside the lastPomodoro to lookoverwhatheachievedduringtheday,fillintheRecordsSheet,jotdownsomecommentsonareasforimprovement,makenotesontheToDoTodaySheetforthenextday,andtidyhisdesk.ThePomodororings.Quickbreak.Albertlooksathiswatch.It’s5:27.He straightens any papers that are out of place and puts the activity sheets inorder.At5:30freetimebegins.Twocommentsonthisscenario:

TheoperationalPomodorosnevercoincidewiththenumberofwork/studyhours.Witheighthoursofwork/study,2Pomodorosareearmarkedfororganizationalactivities(onehour)and12(sixhours)foroperationalactivities.ThetimethatgoesbyisalwaysasecondaryfactorwiththePomodoroTechnique.Iftherearenounhandledinterruptions,theendofthemorningorafternoonwillbedeterminedsimplybythesuccessionofPomodoros.ThetimetableisreinforcedbysetsofPomodoros.Itdoesn’tmatterwhattimeitis,becauseourguideisthesequenceofPomodoroswiththeirrespectivebreaks.Intermsofthetimetableinthisexample,wehave[1+3],[4]:[4],[1+1].

ASCENARIOWITHINTERRUPTIONS

Let’ssay it’s thesecondPomodoro in thesecondsetof thescenariodescribedabove.Albertgetsinterruptedandcan’tdealwiththeinterruption.Thatcanhappen.

The Pomodoro is void. Finally, Albert is free to get back to work again. Hechecksthetime.It’s12:20.Inafewsecondshereorganizesthelastsession;atthis point there’s only one Pomodoro left to do. He still takes a quick breakbeforegoingontothenextPomodoro.Infact,hedecidestotakeabitmoretimetotrytofindhisfocus.Whenhefeelsready,AlbertwindsupthePomodoroandstarts the second Pomodoro in the set. (The first one was interrupted.) In theafternoon, at the end of the third set of four Pomodoros, Albert feels that heneedsmore than a 3-to 5-minute break. He decides to take a half-hour walk.Before going out, he quickly modifies the last set, which was originally twoPomodoroslong,tojustoneorganizationalPomodoro.Ifthere’sextratime,he’lltidyhisdeskandcheckhisincominge-mails.Albertgetsbackfromhiswalkat4:47.HewindsupthePomodoro,itrings,“X,”break.Freetime.

OPTIMIZINGYOURTIMETABLE

AworkdaycontainsseveralPomodoros.Howshouldyouorganizethemtomakethe day more effective? Optimizing your work schedule is the result of acontinualprocessofobservationandfeedback.Theobjectiveistoreinforcetheconceptofaregularsuccessionofactivityasmuchaspossible.For people who have an entire day to study, an initial timetable might be

8:30–12:30, 1:30–5:30. This consists of two sets made up of four and threePomodoros, respectively, in the morning and two sets consisting of four andthree Pomodoros, respectively, in the afternoon: [4],[3]:[4],[3]. The setsdeterminewhentotakebreaks.ThePomodoroswithineachsetcanbeorganizedevenfurther.Forexample,

youcouldearmark the firstPomodoro in the first session forplanning thedayand the following three for studying new topics, along with the next twoPomodoros from thesecondset.The lastPomodoro in thesecondgroup is setaside for checking and answering e-mails, listening to voicemail, and callingclassmates if necessary. This is a way to respond effectively to possibleinterruptionsinterceptedduringthemorning.ThefirstPomodoroofthethirdsetisforlookingoverwhatyoudidinthemorning.ThenextthreePomodorosareto spend on studying. The first two Pomodoros of the fourth set are used to

revisewhatyou’velearnedtodayandinthelastfewdays.ThelastPomodoroofthe day is used for tracking and analyzing data. Thus, your timetable lookssomethinglikethis:[1+3],[2+1]:[1+3],[2+1].The basic assumptions with this study schedule are that people are usually

moreproductiveinthemorningandthatworkdoneintheafternoonhoursjustafterlunchisnotveryeffective.Clearly,theseassumptionsaresubjective.Whydowe refer to an initial timetable?Because by gathering information on howtheywork/howthey’reworking,inotherwordsbytrackingmetricsofcompletedPomodorosandotherindicatorseveryday,studentscanlearntopinpointwhichset of Pomodoros ismost productive for studying, revising, or being creative.Knowingthis,theycanconsciouslymodifytheirstudyschedule,startingearlieror later, extending certain sets and reducing others, and learning to knowthemselvesbetter.Here’sthekeytoorganizingatimetable:Makeconsciousdecisionsabouthow

tosetitup.Uptothispoint,setsoffourPomodoroshavebeenusedbecausethisamountusuallyisconsideredthemosteffective.Butyoualsocanuselongerorshortersetslasting,say,threeorfivePomodoros.Attheendofthesetcomesa15-to30-minutebreak.Tobeeffective,atimetableshouldbedestinedtochangeover time, and it can bemade up of sets of differing numbers of Pomodoros,givingpreferencetothosethatlastfourPomodoros.

Experience teaches you that when the seasons change, your timetable needs to

changetoo.

U

OBJECTIVEVI:DEFINEYOUROWNPERSONALIMPROVEMENT

OBJECTIVE

p to this point, this book has described the basic Pomodoro Technique.Untilnow,bymeansof simple trackingand recordingactivitiesandwithverylittleprocessing,we’vecomeupwithusefulreportsoneffortperactivityandonerrorsinqualitativeorquantitativeestimates.Naturally,ifwewanttoimprove,thereportingobjectiveswillchangeovertime.Ofcourse,itwouldn’tbeusefulto trackand recordeverypossiblemetric;weshoulddo thatonly for theonesthatenableustoobservewhatwewanttoconsolidateorimprove.ThePomodoroTechniquewas conceived to be flexible in the face of these

kindsofchanges.Tomaketrackingandrecordingnewmetricspossible,wehavetomodify the different sheets, as was shown in the previous chapters.Whilemakingthesealterations,it’sessentialtokeepinmindsomekeycriteriathatwillpreservetheadaptivecapabilityofthetechnique.Inorderofimportance:

1. Alwaysrememberthatusingtechnologyentailsanincreaseincomplexityasaresultoftherelativelearningcurveandlessflexibilitycomparedwithpaper,pencil,anderaser.

2. Keeptrackingatthelowestpossiblelevelofcomplexity(evendelegatingsmalltaskstorecording).Choosesimpletoolsforthisactivity:Usingpaper,pencil,anderaserservesasausefulmentalexercise.

3. Keeptherecordingsimplebyusingthetoolsbestsuitedtothecomplexity

youhavetomanage.Beforeturningtoaspreadsheetoradatabase,seeifthere’samoreeffectivewaytodorecordingwithpaper,pencil,anderaser.Beforeusingadhocsoftware,seeifthere’samoreeffectivewaytodorecordingwithaspreadsheetoradatabase.

4. Ifprocessingandvisualizingbecomedifficult,complex,andrepetitive,youhavetoaskyourselfifallthemetricsyou’reobservingarereallynecessary.Ifthatturnsouttobethecase,youshouldconsiderusingspreadsheets,adatabase,oranadhocsoftwareprogram.AsimpleExcelsheetcanreadilyhandleoperationssuchasreclassifyingactivitiesbytype,filteringactivitiesbyword,grouping,andapplyingcalculationstoselectedactivities.

5. Imaginationisthemostpowerfultoolforpreventingcomplexityfromgrowing.

Forexample,earlierinthebookwelookedatacasewithasingleobjective:writing an article titled “How to LearnMusic.” This objective is achieved bymeans of a series of tasks. But youmight find yourself having to consider anumber of objectives to achieve simultaneously. How do you distinguishbetweenthem?Depending on the circumstances, you can change the way you write the

descriptionsothatyoucanhighlighttheobjective(Figure30).Anotheroptionistoincludeanewboxlabeled“Objectives”intheActivityInventory,ontheToDo Today Sheet, and on the Records Sheet where you can write down adescription of the objective or an abbreviation or code that stands for it. Tocalculate the totaleffortexpended toachieveaparticularobjective,addup theeffortittooktodotherelatedactivities.

FIGURE30:TODOTODAYSHEET

Youmightwant tocalculatehowlong it takes toreachcertainobjectivesorperformparticularactivities.Todothis,yousimplymeasurethetimefromthedateofcompletionbacktothedatewhenyouwroteinorassignedtheactivity.Sinceyoualreadyhavethecompletiondatefortheactivity(ontheToDoTodaySheet),inthefirstcaseyou’llneedtotrackthedateyouslottedthatactivityintotheActivityInventory;inthesecondcase,you’lltrackthedateyouwroteontheToDoTodaySheet.On theRecordsSheetyoucan trackPomodorosofeffortoverseveraldaysforthesameactivity.

Inanycase,choosingwhichmetricstotrackandrecordhastobesubordinatetothe

choice of improvement objectives. In this case, the metrics system will grow

incrementallyonthebasisofrealneed,keepingtrackingcomplexitytoaminimum.

S

APPLYINGTHEPOMODOROTECHNIQUEONATEAM

cientific evidence suggests that ancient humans started hunting formeattwomillionyearsago.Iwonderaboutthedaythefirstancienthumanputasidetheirprideandaskedotherpeople forhelp.After all, largeanimals tend tobefierceanddifficultpreytohuntonyourown.Most of thegoalswewant to reachnowadays aredifficult or impossible to

achieve on our own too.We need somebody else’s help to be successful. Forinstance,ourpartners,ourfamilies,ourteamsatwork,peoplewehaveworkedwithforyears,orpeopleweworkwithonlyonoccasion.Workingonateamhasallowed us to evolve and acquire the knowledge needed to explore distantplanetsorunderstandourownDNA.I try to imagine that team of ancient humans’ first attempts to hunt a large

animal. They would not have been successful right away. I can picture themstanding in a circle around the prey, each person attacking it individually—violentattemptstokillthebeast,whichappearhaphazardandbadlycoordinated.Iimaginetheprey’smockingsneerwhenitrealizesithasresolvedtheproblemoflunch.

ALLTOOOFTEN,TEAMSBECOMEPREYTOTHEIRGOALSWhenweworkonateam,goalstendtobemorecomplicatedtoreach.Themore

complicatedthegoals,themoreunexpectedandurgenttherelatedactivitieswillbe, and, in turn, the more destructive the delays and the interruptions willbecome.Asthecomplexityofthegoalincreases,sodoestheneedtocoordinatewith

more people. And the more people who are involved in the process—teammembers,externalconsultants,andproviders—themoreinterruptionsanddelaystherewillbe.Ifweas a team lacka time-management strategy—astrategy thathelpsour

teambehaveeffectivelywhen timebecomesan issuewehave tomanage—theteammemberswillendupfeelinganxiousandafraid.Let’ssayyouneedtodeliverasalesreporttoyourmanagerbytheendofthe

day.All themembersofyour teamare responsible for completingone relatedactivity:Angelaisinchargeofanalyzingdata—averytime-consumingactivity—andMarcisinchargeofgettingfeedbackfromyourbestcustomers.Youandyour team planned everything. The goal is feasible. But something is notworkingasexpected.Angelaisnotatherdesk.Someonecalledherandshewasnotabletomanagetheinterruption.Marcishavingdifficultiescontactingsomeclientsbuthedoesnotletyouknow.Insteadheworksharder.Thisreportwasreallyimportantandyoutrustedyourteamtodeliver.Howdo

you thinkyouwill react at 5:00whenAngela andMarc explainwhy they areunable todeliverwhat theyhadagreedon?Will you trust them in the future?WhatmakesthissituationmoreunfortunateisthatbothAngelaandMarcactedingood faith; they justdidnothaveaneffective time-management strategy inplace.Situations like these create frustration. Anxiety contaminates the team’s

mood.Feelingsofresentmentcanarise.Trustbetweenteammemberscanstartto break down asmembers blame one another. Conflicts emerge.We end upmovingincirclesaroundourgoal,accusinganddistrustingothers,untilweburnout,envelopedinanatmosphereoftension,anxiety,andfrustration.Whenourteamgetstothispoint,weareofficiallyfoodonourprey’splate.

HOWCANTHEPOMODOROTECHNIQUEHELPATEAMREACHITSGOALS?By using the Pomodoro Technique, we want to be able to deliver that salesreport by 5:00 with no stress, with no friction, and to the satisfaction of the

wholeteam.There are several benefits to applying a time-management strategy like the

PomodoroTechniquetoyourteam.Itcan:

ReducefrictionbetweenteammembersReducetheneedforunnecessarymeetings

ProtecttheteamfrominterruptionsHelptheteamcompleteitsgoalsandactivitiesontime

Inthefollowingchaptersinthissectionofthebook,wewilllearnhowateamcangetthebenefitsofferedbythePomodoroTechnique.Todothat,wewillhavetoadaptandexpandthetoolsandtheprocessofthe

technique.Thetimerandthevarioussheetsarethetools.Usingthetimerandthesheetstoreachagoaldefinestheprocess.Aprocessanswersthequestion“Whatdowe do,when?” For instance,what dowe dowhen the Pomodoro rings orwhenthereisaninterruption?Rulessuchas“IfittakesmorethanfivetosevenPomodoros, break it down” or practices such as the “Inform, Negotiate, CallBackStrategy”supporttheprocess.Wewillstartbyconsideringhowtoadaptthetoolsofthetechniquetoateam.

Thenwewill focus on new rules and practices for improving productivity byapplyingthetechnique.Ready,set,go!

T

ADAPTINGTHETOOLSOFTHETECHNIQUETOATEAM

hePomodoroTechniquehassixobjectives:

1. Findouthowmucheffortanactivityrequires2. Cutdownoninterruptions3. Estimatetheeffortrequiredforactivities4. MakethePomodoromoreeffective5. Setupatimetable6. Defineyourownpersonalimprovementobjective

In theReachingYour IndividualGoals section, Ihavedemonstratedhow toachieve these objectiveswhileworking alone. But I often visit teams that areinterestedinimprovingtheirproductivitytoo.Manypeoplehaveaskedmehowtheycanapply thePomodoroTechnique to fit their teams’needs.Howdo thetoolsofthetechniqueneedtobeadapted?Iampleasedtobepartofyourteamnowandtobeabletoansweryourquestions.Let’sbegin.

DOESEACHMEMBEROFTHETEAMHAVETHEIROWNPOMODORO,ORISTHEREAPOMODOROFORTHEWHOLETEAM?

Each microteam has and manages its own Pomodoro. The rule is OneMicroteam,OnePomodoro.

WHATISAMICROTEAM?Amicroteamisanynumberofpeopleworkingonanactivityatacertaintime.Forexample,a teammadeupof threepeopleneeds to reachagoal.Atany

particularmoment, twopeoplemightworkonacertainactivity togetherwhilethethirdteammemberworksonanotheractivity.Duringthattime,theteamisorganizedintotwomicroteams(Figure31).

FIGURE31:MICROTEAMS

Inallthesediagrams,theunderlinednameindicatesthepersonresponsibleforthe team reaching a specific goal. The bold names indicate the personresponsibleforcompletingacertainactivity.Thispersonisalsoinchargeofthemicroteamworkingon that activity.Thedouble-headeddotted arrow indicatesinteractionbetweenpeople.Each activity is carriedout by amicroteam.Amicroteamcan range in size

fromonepersontoallthemembersoftheteam.Onepersononthemicroteamisalwaysresponsibleforthatactivityandinchargeofthemicroteamworkingonit.

FIGURE32:GOALSANDMICROTEAMS

Figure32showsthenumberofPomodorosateamofeightisusingatagivenpoint in the day. The team is working on two goals. The first goal has threepeopleworkingon it:onemicroteamof twopeopleandonemicroteamofoneperson.The secondgoalhas fivepeopleworkingon it: onemicroteamof twopeople and another of three people. In accordance with theOneMicroteam,OnePomodoro rule,eachof theactivities thatamicroteamisworkingonhasitsownPomodoro.

WHYNOTHAVEONEPOMODOROFORALLTHEMEMBERSOF

THETEAM?Breaks are one of themost vital elements of the Pomodoro Technique. Theyallowourmindsthetimetoprocesstheinformationthathasbeenacquiredandencourage solutions. Breaks become even more important when working onteams.Effectiveinteractionsamongteammembersrequirepeopletobeopen,tolisten, and to focus. A failure to take adequate breaks can mean that teammembersfeelmorestressedandarelessabletoengageineffectiveinteractionswiththerestoftheteam.It is not possible to assign a fixed time for the breaks, either between

Pomodoros or betweenblocksof fourPomodoros.At the endof aPomodoro,one microteam may feel ready to start the next one after just two minutes.Meanwhile,anothermicroteammightneedafive-minutebreak.Each microteam must be free to decide how long the break will be. Each

microteamhas adifferent rhythm,performs adifferent typeof activity, and ismadeupofdifferentkindsofpeople,andthemembersofeachteaminteractindifferentways.Only themicroteam’smembersknowhowmuch time theyneedinordertofeelreadytobeginthenextPomodoro.The “synchronized Pomodoro”—one timer for the entire team, one per

microteam,oroneperpersonstartedatthesametime,asifinaproductionline—doesnotalloweachindividualtotakethetimetheyneedtobeabletointeracteffectivelywiththeirteammembers.Anyattemptsbyteamstoworkinlockstepforcepeopletoignoretheirindividualneeds.

Anotherreasontoadviseagainstthe“synchronizedPomodoro”istheneedtomanage

interruptions effectively. If Microteam #3 is interrupted by an urgent phone call and

cannotsuccessfullymanage thebreak, itwouldmakenosense tostopall theother

microteamsandvoidtheentireteam’sPomodoro.

HOWCANWEARRANGEFOREVERYONETOATTENDAMEETING?Theteamtimetablemakesitpossibletoplaneventsthatinvolvethewholeteam:meetingsandsharedbreaks.Eachmicroteamdecideswhen to start its ownPomodoro and how long the

breaks will be. However, regardless of how many minutes are left on each

microteam’sPomodoro, it isuseful to apply this rule:TheTimetableAlwaysOverridesthePomodoro.Theneedforsharedbreaksormeetingsattendedbytheentireteamcanbemet

byassigningtheseactivitiestotimeslotsintheteamtimetable:

Everydayfrom11:30a.m.to11:45a.m.:TeamBreakinthesecondfloorkitchenEveryFridayfrom3p.m.to5p.m.:TeamMeetinginroom#401

Whoshoulddrawupandupdate the teamtimetable?This is theresponsibilityof the

teammembers.

WHOSETSTHEPOMODORO?WHOMAKESTHEESTIMATES?WHORECORDSTHEPOMODOROS?Thepersoninchargeofthemicroteamisresponsibleforaseriesofactionsanddecisions:

SettingthePomodoro—thispersonwillphysicallystartthePomodoroDecidinghowtoorganizethestructureofthePomodoro—howtousethefirstorthelast5minutesofthePomodoroPuttingan“X”ontheToDoTodaysheetforeachcompletedPomodoroDecidinghowtomanageinterruptionswhentheyoccurDecidinghowlongbreakswilllast,keepinginmindtheneedsofthemicroteammembersRecordingthePomodoroscarriedoutinthecourseofthedaybythemicroteamtheyareinchargeof

Alltheseactionsanddecisionsstrengthenthatperson’ssenseofresponsibilitywithregardtotheactivitytobecompleted.

DOWENEEDTOMODIFYTHEPOMODOROTECHNIQUESHEETS?Let’slook,onebyone,athowandwhytoadaptthevarioussheetsrelatedtothePomodoroTechniquewhenworkingonateam.

ADAPTINGTHETODOTODAYSHEETTheonlychangeyouneedtomakewhenyouareinchargeofamicroteamistoaddthenameofthepersonorpeoplewhoareworkingwithyou.

FIGURE33:TODOTODAYSHEET

Figure33showsMarco’sToDoTodaysheet.Marcoisworkingondeliveringthemonthlysalesreport:thisishisgoalfortheweek.Fromhisrecords,weseethatMarcohascompleted theactivity“Collect thedatafor thesales report” inonePomodoro;togetherwithStephan,hecompletedtheactivity“Checkthedatafor thesales report” in twoPomodoros.Finally,heworkedwithAnnalenaandKatrinontheactivity“Preparethesalesreport,”whichtookonePomodoro.

ADAPTINGTHERECORDSSHEET

Whenworkinginteams,theRecordsSheetexplicitlyshowstheestimatedeffortandtheactualeffortexpendedintermsofpersonPomodoros:

FIGURE34:RECORDSSHEET

Forexample,theRecordsSheetinFigure34showsustwothings.Marcohadestimatedthattheworktocarryouttheactivity“Preparethesalesreport”wouldrequire twoPomodoros for amicroteamof three people (2P 3p).We also seethatinfactthatmicroteamrequiredfivePomodorostocompletetheactivity.There is only one Records Sheet. The same sheet is shared by all team

members.At theendof theday,eachteammemberresponsibleforanactivitywillfillindatarelatedtotheirmicroteam’sworkthatday.

ADAPTINGTHEACTIVITYINVENTORY

The Activity Inventory requires some simple modifications when working inteams:

AddingacolumnwiththepersonresponsiblefortheactivityRecordingintheestimatecolumnthenumberofPomodorosthataparticularnumberofpeopleinamicroteamwillrequiretocompleteaparticularactivity

Thepersonresponsiblefortheactivityisalsoinchargeoftheestimatefortheactivity.

FIGURE35:ACTIVITYINVENTORY

In the example shown in Figure 35, Katrin is responsible for the activity“Prepare the slides to present the new product,” and estimates that fourPomodorosoftwopeoplewillbeneeded.

I

SIMPLEPRACTICESTOGETYOURTEAMSTARTED

n the previous chapter we saw how to adapt the tools of the PomodoroTechnique—the timers and the various sheets—to work in a team. When itcomes to working in a team, we need new rules and practices to adapt thePomodoroTechniqueprocessaswell.If I were asked what I’d suggest to a team that is starting to apply the

PomodoroTechnique, Iwould recommend the following twosimplepractices,whichcanbeappliedimmediately.

POMODOROROTATIONS

Thispracticegoesback to thefirstapplicationsof thePomodoroTechnique toteams in the late1990s:Withadefined frequency—usuallyeveryone, two,orfourPomodoros—oneofthemembersofyourmicroteamswitchesplaceswithamember of another microteam. The people leading the activities are the onlyones who cannot switch places. One by one, each of the members of amicroteamswitchesplaceswithamemberofothermicroteams.Iknowthatpeopletendtoresistswitchingfromamicroteamtheyareusedto.

“Isn’t it an interruption during work? How do we coordinate so that we cansmoothlyswitchmicroteammembers?Won’tittakeuslongertofinish?Won’t

it interrupt theflow?”Itmightseemcounterintuitive,butrotatingthemembersof your microteam systematically can help you complete your activity moreeffectively.Eachpersonwhocomes into themicroteammightbringnewideasanddifferentsolutions.Whenappliedroutinely,thispracticemakesitpossibleto:

ShareknowledgeShareandimprovetheteam’sskillsIncreasetheinterchangeabilityofteammembersKeeptheteamuptodatewiththecurrentstatusofthegoalsandavoidneedlessmeetings

A little common sense will enable the team members to rotate smoothlybetweenmicroteams,evenasfrequentlyaseveryPomodoro.ThePomodoroofMicroteam#1has justrung.Katrin isresponsiblefor theactivityandexpectedStephan fromMicroteam#2 to rotatewithMarco,whom she has justworkedwith.Microteam#2isinthemiddleoftheirPomodoro.ButMicroteam#3istwominutes away from taking their break. Katrin can choose to wait and askStephaniefromMicroteam#3torotateinsteadofStephan.Itisnotnecessarytosynchronize the timers to implement the rotations. Communication and theability to adapt will turn what seem like impediments to rotations intoopportunitiestoshareknowledgeandimproveskills.

Thispracticemustbechosenbytheteammembers.Forcingorimposingrotationscanbefrustratingforthosewhoaresubjectedtoit.

SNAPYOURPOMODORO

Wehave been implementing this practice onmy team for a number of years.WhenthePomodororings,wetakeaphoto.Ofwhat?Ofsomethingthatshowsexactly what our microteam has done during that Pomodoro. One photo perPomodoro. We often snap things that we did not understand or manage toresolveinthatPomodoro.Orwetakeaphotoofaresultthatwehaveachieved.At the endof thedaywehavea timelinewith aphoto for everyPomodoro

completed by each microteam. This is not just helpful for simplifying and

reducing recording time. It isparticularlyhelpfulbecause it letsus reconstructweeks of work in just a fewminutes; having a visual overview helps to findsolutions.

I

WHYTEAMSNEEDMOREADVANCEDPRACTICES

started applying the Pomodoro Technique to teams as a coach in the late1990s. This came about quite by chance. The team consisted of roughly tensoftware developers from a bank based inMilan.At that time, Iworked as aconsultant for companies with teams that wanted to improve their softwaredevelopmentprocess.Mytaskwastoenableteammemberstofindsolutionstoproblemsontheirown.Todothis,Iassignedtheteammembersalotofmaterialtostudy.Soon,though,aproblememerged:WhenshouldIstudy?HowdoIdoiteffectively? And without fear and anxiety? I knew those questions well, andduringabreakIcasuallymentionedhowIhadresolvedthem:withthetimer,25minutes, theToDoTodayand theActivity Inventorysheets,andsoon.Somequestions followed,and thenwewentback towork.But the followingmonth,theteammembersaskedmeaquestionthatIdidn’tknowhowtoanswer:HowcanweapplythePomodorotoourteam?Avarietyofanxietiesandfearslaybehindthatquestion.Theteamwasalways

lateindeliveringsoftwarefeatures.Onaverage,theirestimateswereoffby400percent—a feature estimated to take one month to deliver actually took five.Unsurprisingly, theirmanager had stopped trusting them.Thepressureon thatteamwashigh.Andworkingundertheseconditionsledtomistakes,orbugsaswe say in the softwareworld.Often themanagerwouldbarge into the team’s

openspace,tellthemtostopallactivitiesimmediately,andorderthemtocorrectabugthathadbeennoticedbyaninternaluserorabankcustomer.Thewholeteamwould thendrop everything to correct thebug. Itwasoftennecessary toworkovertimeandevenonweekends.Havingtodealwithbugsmeantthatnoonemanagedtoworkonthegoalssetfortheweek,whichledtonewdelaysandmore inaccurate estimates, new frustrations, and even more pressure foreveryone.Thanks to that teaminMilan,youcannowread thisbook.Themembersof

that teamshared their successatconferencesand inblogposts.Theywere theoneswhostartedtheviralprocessofspreadingthistechniquethathasovertimebeenpassedontothousandsofotherteamsaroundtheworldandthattodayhasnowreachedyou.Althoughtheexperienceofthat teaminMilanseemsextreme,workingona

team often leads to difficulties delivering on time, big estimation errors,momentsofunbearablestress,anda lackof trust frommanagementorclients.Sometimesanactivityissocomplexthatthemicroteamsimplycannotcompleteit.Often interruptions from colleagues and clients overwhelm the team.Othertimes, a microteam cannot complete an activity because of a bottleneck—forinstance,whentheyhavetostandbyandwaitforanothermicroteamtocompletean activity before they can resume their own work. All this can happen, andmuchmore.Frustratingandstressfulsituationssuchastheseoftencontaminateateam’smood,loweringproductivityandbringingthewholeteamtoastandstill.

HOWCANTHEPOMODOROTECHNIQUEHELPATEAMMANAGECOMPLEXITY,INTERRUPTIONS,ANDBOTTLENECKS?In the following chapters you will find my “best practices” for using thePomodoroTechniquewithateamtoresolveandavoidthefrustratingsituationsIhavedescribed.Asacoach,myexperiencewiththeteaminMilanpromptedmeto start collecting, evolving, and structuring successful practices that could berepeatedbyotherteams.Ihavedevelopedandtestedanumberofthesepracticesoveralmost20years. Ihaveapplied themwith teamsofdifferentsizes, skills,andlevelsofexperience.Forme,eachofthesepracticesislinkedtoaparticularteam—toitsanxietiesandfearsandtoitsachievements.IhopeyoufindthemasusefulasIhave.

M

THEPRACTICEOFTHECOUNTER

yheroes here inBerlin are the guys at theNotebookLounge.They fixcomputers.Theirshopissurprisinglysmall.Whenyouwalkin,youseealoungewith comfy couches to your left. In front of you there is a bar. Behind thecounter, there is a team member who is ready to deal with your emergency.Behindhimorherisablackcurtain.Youcannotseewhatisbeyond,butthatiswheretheyaresavingyourcomputer’slife.Interruptionsareoneofthemostcommonandexpensiveproblemsforteams.

Givingintoonesingleinterruptioncanholduptheworkofthewholeteam.ThePracticeof theCountershowshowthePomodoroanda timetablecanhelp theteamtomanageinterruptions.Themostfascinatinglessonofthispracticeisthatinterruptions can be turned into an opportunity to share knowledge and workmore effectively. The day I entered my heroes’ shop, I recognized severalsimilarities to thepracticeIhaveappliedmany times in thepastand that Iamnowgoingtodescribe.

PROBLEM

A team isworking on their goals but is overwhelmed by requests for supportfrom various stakeholders: colleagues, clients, consultants, managers, andsuppliers. All want immediate answers. Team members repeatedly give in to

interruptions,whichaffectstheproductivityofthewholeteam.

SOLUTION

ThePracticeoftheCounterenablestheteamtoprotectitselffromahighnumberofexternalinterruptionsandtoshareknowledgeamongteammembers.To show how this practice can be applied, let us imagine the teamwe are

coaching is made up of eight people. They could organize themselves in thefollowingway:

Createaphysicalbarrier,orcounter,torestrictaccesstotheareawherethemicroteamsareatwork.Thisteamshouldnotbevisibletothepeoplerequestingsupport.Ihaveneverusedarealcurtain,buttheeffectyouwanttocreateisthesame.Toemphasizethiseffect,fromhereforwardIwillcallthisteamthe“teambehindthecurtain.”Createthe“teamatthecounter”—oneormoremicroteamswhoseroleistodealwithpeoplewhoneedsupportandmanagetheirrequests.Inmyexperience,withaneight-personteam,theperfectmicroteamsizeistwopeople.IntheexampleshowninFigure36,KatrinandMarcoformonemicroteamtoworkatthecounter.

Supportingacustomer’srequestisusuallyseenasanactivityforoneperson.Inorder

toprovideabetterunderstandingoftherequestforsupportandtoavoiderrors,Iwould

recommendthattheworkatthecounterbedoneinpairs.

FIGURE36:PRACTICEOFTHECOUNTER

Setascheduledeterminingwhenpeopleneedingsupportcanfreelyaccessthecounterandwhentheteamatthecountercanworkonansweringtheirrequests.Forinstance,intheexampleshowninFigure36,peopleinneedofsupportcanaccessthecounterandrequestsupportfromKatrinandMarcofrom10:00to12:00andfrom2:00to4:00.Nobodycanaccessthecounterfrom9:00to10:00,from1:00to2:00,orfrom4:00to5:00.Inthosetimeslots,KatrinandMarcowillworktocollecttheinformationneededtoprocesstherequests.Setaschedulespecifyingwhentheteambehindthecurtainwillsupporttheteamatthecounter.IntheexampleshowninFigure36,the“teamatwork”—Carla,Stephan,Nik,Annalena,andAndrew—willworkonsupportingtheteamatthecounter—MarcoandKatrin.Theywillprocessthequeueofrequestsforsupportthattheteamatthecounterwasnotabletodealwith.

Theschedulesofthetwoteamsshouldenabletheteambehindthecurtaintoconsult

theteamatthecounteriftheyneedtoclarifysomeaspectsoftherequestsforsupport

theyreceived.InFigure36,suchcollaborationcantakeplacefrom1:00to2:00.

SetthefrequencyofthePomodoroRotations.Asusual,thepeopleresponsiblefortheactivitiesstayputandcoworkersfromthemicroteamsintheteambehindthecurtainrotatewithcoworkersfromthemicroteamsintheteamatthecounter.ThefrequencyofthePomodoroRotationsbetweenthesetwoteamsisusuallyeveryfouroreightPomodoros,oronadailybasis.ThemoreinterchangeabletheteammembersareandthemoreexperiencetheyhavewiththepracticeofPomodoroRotations,themorefrequentlytherotationscanoccur.

Whenpeoplecomeuptothecountertomakerequests,oneofthreescenariosispossible:

1. Theteamatthecounterknowshowtodealwiththeperson’srequestandcanimmediatelysupportthem.InFigure36,thishappensfrom10:00to12:00andfrom2:00to4:00.

2. Theteamatthecounterknowshowtodealwiththeperson’srequestbutneedssometimetoprovidetheanswer.Inthiscase,theteamatthecounterwritesdowntherequest,estimatesthetimeandeffortneededtodealwithit,andschedulesatimethepersonneedingsupportwillreceivetheirresponse.InFigure36,thishappensfrom9:00to10:00,1:00to2:00,and4:00to5:00.

3. Theteamatthecounterisunabletomakeanestimateordoesnotknowhowtodealwiththerequest.Inthiscase,theteamatthecounterwritesdowntherequestforsupportandaddsittoaqueueofrequeststhattheteambehindthecurtainwilldealwithduringascheduledtimeslot.InFigure36,thisisfrom1:00to2:00.

This practice can be misunderstood. I have often seen new people be hired by

companiesandassignedsolelytomanagingthecounter.Thisdecisionmakessensein

that it puts team members back “behind the curtain,” working continuously on that

team’sgoals.However,thedownsideisthat,moreoftenthannot,theteamlosesthe

usefulexperiencegainedbytheteamworkingatthecounterinidentifyingopportunities

to improve theprocessor theproduct.For this reason, Iwould recommend that the

teamatthecounterbemadeupofatleastoneteammemberfrombehindthecurtain.

PROSANDCONS

TheadvantagesofthePracticeoftheCounterare:

WIN-WINSOLUTIONS.Youkeepyourclientsandcolleagueshappywhileensuringtherestoftheteamworkstoreachthedefinedgoalswithoutdistractionsandinterruptions.SHARINGKNOW-HOW.Solvingproblemsandrespondingtorealrequestsisoneofthebestwaystogettoknowthesystemortheproductyouareworkingon.IDENTIFYINGFLAWSINTHEPROCESSORPRODUCT.Exposuretocolleagues’orclients’requestsovertimerevealsopportunitiestoimprovetheteam’sprocess.

The only disadvantage of this practice is that the team behind the curtainmighttakelongertoreachitsgoals.Thisisbecausewemovedpeoplefromthatteambehindthecurtaintotheteamatthecounter.

Inmyexperience,theteambehindthecurtainoftentakeslesstimetoreachitsgoals.

Thecapacitylostwhenteammembersleavetheteambehindthecurtaincanbemore

thancompensated forby the timesavedmanaging interruptions. Inotherwords, the

timeandeffortneededtoreachthegoalwithsixpeoplewithno interruptionscanbe

lessthanthetimeneededbyeightpeoplewithinterruptions.

W

THEPRACTICEOFTHEPOMODOROHACKATHON

hateveryourage,ifyouenjoychallenges,IrecommendyoutakepartinaHackathononeday.Theterm“Hackathon”wascoinedinthe1990s,acuriouscombinationof “hack” and “marathon.”The “hack” inHackathondoesnot somuch refer to hacking unauthorized access to data in a computer system as itdoestofindingaworkingsolutiontoaproblembyhammeringawayat it.Thesolutionsyouendupwithmightnotbeelegant fromadesignperspective,buttheyshouldbeeffective.Hackathonscanlasthoursordaysandareusuallyheldon weekends. They always involve a challenge, such as inventing agroundbreakingvideogame,pushingthelimitsoftechnologytoimprovehealthand safety atwork, or finding innovativeways to improvemobility in a city.Youcantakepartasanindividualoraspartofateam(butitisobviouslymuchmore fun ina team).Thebest solutionnormallywinsaprize. Iamnot sure ifpeople use the PomodoroTechnique atHackathons, but I named this practiceaftertheirpassionateparticipants.

PROBLEM

Amicroteamstrugglestocompleteoneparticularactivity.Itcouldbeanactivityrequiringagreatdealofresearchoranactivitycharacterizedbyahighdegreeof

complexityoruncertainty.Ifnotcompletedontime,thisactivitycanbecomeabottleneckthatstopstherestoftheteamfrommovingforward.

SOLUTION

For unusual, complex, or risky activities, the Practice of the PomodoroHackathonenablestheteamtoconsiderandchoosefromseveralsolutionsintheleastamountoftimepossible.Toshowhowthispracticecanbeapplied,letusimagineyouaretheorganizer

of a Pomodoro Hackathon. These are the steps involved in setting up aHackathon:

1. InviteallorsomeofthemembersoftheteamtoparticipateinthePomodoroHackathon.Onebigroomisusuallythebestenvironmentforthiskindofevent.

2. NominatetheJury.UsuallytheJuryisthemicroteamwhoishavingtroublecompletingthecriticalactivity.ThemembersofthatmicroteamcouldalsoparticipateinthePomodoroHackathon.Atothertimes,theJuryisexternaltotheteam:customers,users,ormanagers.SometimestheJuryismadeupofthewholeteam.

3. SetatimeboxofacertainnumberofPomodoros.FourPomodorosismyusualchoiceandinmyexperienceisnormallyenoughtogetusefulsolutions.Inanycase,thelengthofthePomodoroHackathonmayvary:itdependsonthecomplexityandtheurgencyoftheproblemtosolve.OnePomodoroshouldbeconsideredtheminimum.Whenyoucommunicatethelengthofthetimeboxset,youmustmakeitclearthatthefinaldeadlinefordeliveringthesolutionisbinding.IfyousetfourPomodoros,thenafterfourPomodorostheHackathonends.

4. AsktheparticipantsintheHackathontoorganizethemselvesintomicroteamsandchoosethepersonresponsiblefortheactivity.Thedecisionaboutthesizeofthemicroteamsdependsonthetypeandcomplexityofthechallenge.Iamabigfanofmicroteamsmadeupoftwopeople.Pairsaresmallandeffective.Theinterchangeabilityofteammembersisanotherfactorthatcaninfluencethedecisionaboutthesizeofmicroteams.Forinstance,ifthethemeoftheHackathonis“Let’sfindanewlayoutforourblogposts,”andifyourteamischaracterizedbyahigh

degreeofspecialization,youmightwanttohaveteamsmadeupofonebusinessanalyst,onegraphicdesigner,andonecopywriter.Ifspecializationisnotanissueinyourteam,thenyouhavemorefreedominformingmicroteams.

Iusuallyprefertolettheteammembersformmicroteamsspontaneously,andIalways

favorthecreationof“unusual”microteams:microteamsmadeupofpeoplewhodonot

usuallywork together. I know it is reassuring toworkwith someoneweare used to

workingwith,butbreakingthishabitcanleadtosurprisinglyinnovativeresults.

FIGURE37:POMODOROHACKATHON—FOURPOMODOROS,FOURMICROTEAMS,ONEACTIVITY

5. Givethesamechallenge—theactivityyouneedasolutionfor—tothemicroteamsparticipatingintheHackathon.Allmicroteamswillworkonthesameactivityforthelengthofthetimeboxyouchose.

6. WindupthetimerforallthemicroteamsparticipatingintheHackathon.ForeachPomodoro,youwillannouncewhenthefirst5minuteshavepassed,whenhalfaPomodoroisover,andwhenthereareonly5minutesremaining.

Yes,Iknow,thisisthefirsttimeIhaveusedonetimerforalltheteams.Infact,thisis

the only situation in which I would recommend synchronizing the Pomodoro when

workinginateam.Why?BecauseIwanttoprotectthePomodorobreaksinacontext

characterized by challenge, complexity, and urgency. People like challenges and,

especiallyat their firstPomodoroHackathon,might think that theycanwork through

fourPomodorosormorewithnobreaks.Yourroleistoremindthemofthepurposeof

the Pomodoro breaks. “The challenge is okay, but we don’t want to feel exhausted

after fourPomodoros!Wewant to feel in control and lucid during everyPomodoro.”

Youwanttohelpthem.“Forcing”themtotakerealbreaksinthiskindofchallengeis

helpful.

7. Announcethewinner.AttheendofthetimeboxyouassignedfortheHackathon,theJuryassesseseverymicroteam’ssolution,andselectsthebestone.IusuallysetonePomodorofortheJurytoassessthesolutionsandonePomodoroforthemtoshowthewinningsolutiontotheparticipants.ButmyfavoritescenarioistheonewheretheJurycomprisesalltheHackathon’sparticipants.Inthiscase,inthefirstPomodoro,eachmicroteamcanquicklypresenttheirsolution,andinthesecondPomodorothemicroteamsassessandvoteforthebestsolution.WhydoIlikethisscenario?First,becauseallparticipantsintheHackathoncanhaveasharedknowledgeofthesolutiontobeimplemented,andsecond,becausemoreoftenthannotthisisthemomentwhennewideasemergethatimproveonthesolutionthatwasfound.

Of course success is not guaranteed.What if no effective solution has beenfoundinthetimeboxyousetforyourPomodoroHackathon?Thiscanhappen.Youcanthensimplyorganizeanotherround.Ifthisisthecase,though,givetheteamsalongerbreak.For the first round of the Hackathon, I would not recommend rotating

coworkersbetweenmicroteams.However,inanysubsequentrounds,itisagoodideatoswapmembers.Inmyexperience,itisoftenthemicroteamsthatdonotlooklikeagoodmatchonpaperthatendupproducingthemostcreativeresults.

PROSANDCONS

TheadvantageoforganizingaPomodoroHackathon is that teamscanquicklygeneratemany solutions to a critical activity.Whenyour team feels stuck andneeds an immediate, innovative solution to an often complex problem, being

abletohaveandcompareseveralsolutionsisincrediblyvaluable.The disadvantage is that all the microteams involved in the Pomodoro

Hackathonareunabletoworkontheircurrentactivities.

T

THEPRACTICEOFTHERAM

he Assyrians are credited with inventing the battering ram back in theeighthcenturyB.C.Irememberreadingthedescriptionofthis,thesimplestwarmachine, by the Roman architect and writer Vitruvius in his work OnArchitecture.Thebatteringramwassimpleanddestructive:alogwithabronzecapatitsendshapedlikearam.InRomantimes,almostnofortificationcouldwithstand it. If a copy ofOn Architecture should ever come your way, it isdefinitelywortharead.Today, the “walls” we face are the seemingly impenetrable problems that

preventusfromreachingourgoals.Ourbatteringramisourabilitytogenerateandapplyavarietyofsolutions.Everynewideawetestontheproblemislikeablow of the ram hitting the wall. When you feel stuck in front of that wall,encountering another person’s perspective increases the chances of coming upwithanewidea.Themoretimeswecanrepeatthisprocesswithnewpeople,themorelikelyitisthatthewallwillbeunabletowithstandourblowsandwewillreachourgoal.

PROBLEM

Let us imagine we have a team composed of four microteams of two peopleeach.Eachofthefourpairsisworkingonadifferentactivity.Ineachpair,one

memberisresponsiblefortheactivity(Figure38).

FIGURE38:THETEAM

Activity #1 has proved to bemore complex than predicted. Themicroteamworking on it is struggling and has no idea how to proceed. Completing thisactivity isessential if thewhole teamis toreachitsgoals. Ifnotcompletedontime,thisactivitybecomesabottleneckfortheothermicroteams(Figure39).

FIGURE39:MICROTEAM#1ISUNABLETOCOMPLETEITSACTIVITY

Theothermicroteamsareworkinghardtocompleteactivitiesthatareneededtoreachtheteam’sgoals.Theirworkcannotbeinterrupted.Microteam #1 has tried repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, to complete the

activity.Itseemsnecessarytofindawaytoapplythecollectiveintelligenceandproblemsolvingabilitiesofthewholeteamtothisproblem.

SOLUTION

The Practice of the Ram enables teams to complete an activity by using theexperienceofalltheirmemberswhilemaintainingtheirflow.Suchapracticeisparticularly useful to complete activities on time in order to avoid creatingbottlenecksfortherestoftheteam.HereishowthispracticecanhelpMicroteam#1tocompletetheiractivity:

1. ThepersonresponsibleforMicroteam#1—themicroteaminthegripofcrisis—askstherestoftheteamforhelpandbrieflyexplainstheproblem.

FIGURE40:HELP!

2. Fortheothermicroteams,thisisanexternalinterruption(Figure40).Nowalertedtothecriticalsituation,eachpersonresponsiblefortheothermicroteamsagreestoswaphisorhercoworkerwithoneofthecoworkersonMicroteam#1.Microteams#2and#3canswapfromthenextPomodoro,whereasMicroteam#4preferstoswapaftertwoPomodoros.

3. Basedonthecomplexityoftheproblem,andtheavailabilityofthedifferentmicroteams,Katrin,thepersonresponsibleforActivity#1,quicklydrawsuparoster(Figure41)withthenamesoftherotatingcoworkers:themembersofthemicroteamswhowillworkwithher.

FIGURE41:THEROSTER

4. Thisrosteristhensharedwiththeothermicroteams.Allthemicroteamswillmaintainthesamenumberofpeople,two,butonepersonwillbeswappedinandoutofMicroteam#1.AteachPomodorotherewillbeanewcoworker.AteachPomodoro,theramwillhitharderandharder,batteringdowntheproblemthatneedssolving.

FIGURE42:THEFIRSTPOMODORO

5. AtthestartofthenewPomodoro(Figure42),thepersonresponsiblefortheactivityinMicroteam#1continuestoworkontheirtaskbutwithadifferentcoworkeruntiltheendofthePomodoro.InthefirstfiveminutesofthePomodoro,KatrinfromMicroteam#1explainsthedifficultytheyarefacingtothenewcoworker.Inthefinal5minutesofthePomodoro,Katrinwillaskhercoworkerforfeedback.

ThepersonresponsibleforActivities#2,#3,and#4goesthroughthesameprocessof

taking5minutes toget thenewcoworkerup tospeedand the last5minutes toget

feedbackfromthem.

IfafterthefirstPomodorotheproblemhasstillnotbeenresolved,thepersonresponsible for the activity remains and the next rotation shown in the rostertakesplace.KatrincontinuesworkingonActivity#1.AnnalenareplacesStephanand starts working with Katrin. Stephan joins Nik working on Activity #3.Simply, the person responsible for the activity stays put and the other peoplerotatearound.

Inmicroteamsmadeupofmorethantwopeople,itisadvisabletorotatenomorethan

onepersonatatime.

In this example, Katrin drew up a roster based on three Pomodoros.Whathappens if this is not enough to solve the problem? If necessary, the personresponsiblefortheactivitycanapplythePracticeoftheRamagain.Inthebestscenario,thecryforhelpandtheinterruptionitleadstoismanaged

efficiently:Thepersonresponsiblefortheactivitywheretheproblemhasarisenis able to explain the issue to the teammembers and,with their help, quicklycomeupwitharoster.Inthiscase,thePomodorosunderwayineachmicroteamkeepticking.Iftheinterruptionhasnotbeenmanagedandtherosterisnotreadywithin 30 seconds, the people responsible for the activities must void theirPomodoros.

Thirtysecondsmightseemtooshort tomanage theprocessofexplainingaproblem

anddrawinguparoster.Practicemakesitpossible.Herearesomesimpleguidelines

tospeeduptheprocess:Thepersonwhoasksforhelponlyinterruptswhentheyare

sure theycandescribe theproblem inonesentence.Ata request forhelp, theother

microteamsimmediatelyinterrupttheirworkandfocusonthatrequest.Thecoworkers

workingintheothermicroteamswhothinktheycanhelpwiththeproblemimmediately

conveytheirwillingnesstovolunteer.

PROSANDCONS

TheadvantagesofapplyingthePracticeoftheRamare:

Theproblemfacedbyonemicroteam—Microteam#1inFigure40—issharedwiththeteamasawhole,andthepersonresponsiblefortherelatedactivitybenefitsfromtheskillsandexperienceofdifferentteammembers.Theothermicroteams—Microteams#2,#3,and#4inFigure40—cancontinueworkingontheiractivities.Thepeopleinchargeofthosemicroteamscanbenefitfromswappingcoworkers,becausethiscanleadtothesharingofknowledge.

Thedisadvantageof this practice is that it requires interrupting all the teammembersinthevariousmicroteams.

T

OBSERVATIONS

hePomodoroTechniquehasbeenappliedsuccessfullytovarioustypesofactivities: organizing work and study habits, writing books, drafting technicalreports, preparing presentations, and managing projects, meetings, events,conferences,andtrainingcourses.Herearesomeobservationsthathaveemergedfromtheexperienceofpeople

andteamsthathaveappliedthePomodoroTechnique.

LEARNINGTIME

IttakesnotimeatalltoapplythePomodoroTechnique.Masteringthetechniquetakes from 7 to 20 days of constant application.When it is used by pairs orteams,it’seasiertoimplementthetechniqueconsistently.

Experience shows that applying the technique in teams or organizing work in pairs

resultsinashorterlearningtimeandmoreconsistentresults.Inthesecases,eachpair

workswithitsownPomodoro.

THELENGTHOFTHEPOMODORO

IntermsofhowlongaPomodorolasts,twoforceshavetobekeptinbalancetomaximizeeffectiveness:

ThePomodorohastorepresentaneffectiveatomicmeasureofwork.Inotherwords,thePomodorohastomeasureequalunitsofcontinuouseffort;inthisform,theseunitsarecomparablewithothers.Theproblemisthat,aseveryoneknows,alltimeisnotequalintermsoftheoutputofeffort.Allmonthsaren’tequal:Decemberisshorterintermsofthenumberofproductivedays,andsoisAugustinMediterraneancountries.Similarly,alltheweeksinamontharen’tequal:Wedon’tmakethesameeffortineveryweek.Allthedaysinaweekaren’tequal:Onsomedaysyoucanwork8hours,onothersonly5(especiallyifyouneedtogosomewhere),andonstillothersyoumaywork10to12hours(lessoften,Ihope).Evenallthehoursinadayaren’tequal:Noteveryhourproducesthesameamountofeffort,mostlybecauseofinterruptions.Asaunitofmeasure,muchsmallertimeintervalssuchas10minutesmaynotbeinterrupted,buttheydon’tallowustoachieveappreciableresults,andtrackingbecomestoointrusive.Thus,asfarasthisfirstforceisconcerned,halfanhourseemstobeideal.ThePomodorohastoencourageconsciousness,concentration,andclear-mindedthinking.It’sbeenprovedthat20-to45-minutetimeintervalscanmaximizeaperson’sattentionandmentalactivityiftheyarefollowedbyashortbreak.

Inthelightofthesetwoforces,we’vecometoconsidertheidealPomodorotobe 20 to 35minutes long, 40minutes at themost. Experience shows that thePomodoroTechniqueworksbestwith30-minuteperiods.

InvariousworkgroupsthatexperimentedwiththePomodoroTechniqueinmentoring

activities, each teamwas allowed to choose the length of its ownPomodoro on the

condition that that choice be based on observations of effectiveness.Generally, the

teams started off with hour-long Pomodoros (25minutes seemed too short at first),

thenmovedto2hours,thenwentdownto45minutes,thento10,tilltheyfinallysettled

on30minutes.

VARYINGTHELENGTHOFBREAKS

Thelengthofbreaksdependsonhowtiredyoufeel.Breaksat theendofasetshould last from15 to 30minutes. For example, if you’ve kept up an intenserhythmthroughouttheday,attheendofthenexttolastsetofPomodorosyourbreakwill naturally last 25minutes. If you have to solve a very complicatedproblem, you’ll need a 25-minute break between the sets. If you’re especiallytired,it’spossibleandevenbeneficialtolengthenthebreaksbetweensetseverysooften.Butbreaksthatconsistentlyexceed30minutescaninterrupttherhythmbetweensetsofPomodoros.Moreimportant,thissetsoffanalarmsignalingtheneedforrestandfreetime.It would be a serious mistake to take shorter breaks between sets because

you’re under pressure.Yourmindneeds time to integrate old information andget ready to receive new information to solve the problems in the nextPomodoro. Taking a shorter break because you’re in a rush could lead to amentalblockinfindingsolutions.

Forbeginners,oncethelastPomodorointhesetoffourisup,it’sagoodideatoset

thetimerfor25minutesandstartthebreak.Theaimhereisn’ttoimpose25minutes

rigidlybut toensure thatyoudon’tgoover30minutesofbreak time.Thisshouldbe

done only at the beginning. In time, you’ll realize how tired you are and understand

whenyou’rerefreshedandreadytostartagain.

ThesamecanbesaidforbreaksbetweenPomodoros,whichshouldbenolessthan3to5minutes.Whenyou’reespeciallytired,youcanstopworkingforupto 10 minutes. Remember, though, that downtime between Pomodoros thatconsistently lasts more than 5 to 10 minutes can break the rhythm betweenPomodoros. It would be better to finish the current set and take a 15-to 30-minutebreak.Thebestway tomanageyour resources is toworkstrategically,first by increasing the breaks between sets and then by extending the breaksbetweenPomodorosifnecessary.Themost fittingmetaphor formanagingbreaks is long-distance runners.At

thestartofthemarathon,theyknowtheyhavetheenergytorunfaster,buttheyalso know their limits and the difficulty of the challenge ahead.Theymanagetheirresourcestoachievethebestresultatthefinishline.

ADIFFERENTPERCEPTIONOFTIME

The first benefit that comes fromapplying thePomodoroTechnique,which isapparentinthefirstfewdays,isthesharperfocusandconcentrationthatcomesfromadifferentperceptionoftime.Thisnewperceptionofpassingtimeseemstoelicitthefollowingsensations:

1. Thefirst25-minutePomodorosseemtopassmoreslowly.2. AfterafewdaysofconstantapplicationofthePomodoro,userssaythey

canfeelthemidwaypointofthe25minutes.3. BytheendofthefirstweekofconstantapplicationofthePomodoro,users

saytheycanfeelwhen5minutesareleftonthePomodoro.Infact,manypeoplereporthavingasenseoffatigueduringthosefinalminutes.

We can stimulate the ability to feel time in a different way bymeans of aseriesofexercisesthatenhanceconsciousnessofpassingtimeamongPomodorousers.ThisdifferentawarenessofthepassageoftimeseemstoleadPomodorouserstoahigherlevelofconcentrationinperformingtheactivityathand.

SOUNDSOFTHEPOMODORO

The Pomodoro emits two sounds: It ticks, and it rings (after 25 minutes). Inregard to these sounds, there are several things to consider from twodifferentperspectives: Pomodoro users and people sharing the same work space withPomodorousers.

PEOPLEWHOUSETHEPOMODORO

WhenPomodorousersstartapplyingthePomodoroTechnique, thetickingandringing canbe annoying.There arevariousways tomake these sounds softer,but experience shows that in time (even with just a few days of constantapplication)twothingshappen:

Thetickingbecomesacalmingsound.“It’sticking,andI’mworkingandeverything’sfine.”Afterawhile,usersdon’tevenheartheringbecausetheirlevelofconcentrationissohigh.Infact,nothearingthePomodororingbecomesarealprobleminsomecases.

Clearly,thedifferentsensationsthatareelicitedbythesamesoundsaresignsofaprofoundchangeinaperson’sperceptionofpassingtime.

PEOPLEWHOARESUBJECTTOTHEPOMODORONowconsiderpeoplewhohave to“putupwith” thePomodoro.This situationmayarisewhenthetechniqueisusedinasharedspace;forexample,studyhallsatauniversityoranopen-spaceworkenvironment.To respect the people who don’t use the Pomodoro, a number of solutions

havebeen tested. Inorderofeffectiveness, theseare:watches thatcountdown25minutesandthenflashorbeepsoftly,cellphoneswithsoftwareapplicationsthatvibrateormakethedisplayflash,andkitchentimerswithmutedrings.ThetickingandringingofseveralPomodorosinanenvironmentwhereateam

isusingthePomodoroTechniqueisn’tconsideredbothersome.

SHAPESOFTHEPOMODORO

Obviously, thekitchen timeryouusedoesn’thave tobe shaped likea tomato.Apples,pears,oranges,toasters,cooks,spheres,UFOs—themarketfortimersisasvariedasitisupbeat.ChoosingyourownPomodoro(weshouldsay“timer”)makesthetechniquemoreenjoyableandaccessible.

RINGANXIETY

Whenoneislearningthetechnique,theremaybesomeanxietyduringthefirstfew Pomodoros from the feeling of being controlled by the Pomodoro.Experienceshowsthatthisfeelingemergesmostfrequentlyintwocases:

Amongpeoplewhoarenotusedtoself-disciplineAmongpeoplewhoareveryorientedtowardachievingresults

Inbothcases,itwillprovedifficulttoconcentrateontheprimaryobjectiveofthe technique: empowering each person to improve his or her work or studyprocessthroughself-observation.For people who aren’t used to self-discipline, ring anxiety generally arises

from the fear that the Pomodoro Technique might be used to monitor theirprogressexternally.It’simportanttostressthattheaimofthetechniqueisnottocarryoutanysortofexternalanalysisorcontrol.WiththePomodoroTechnique,thereisnoinspectorwhomonitorsworkers’hoursandmethodsinanoppressivefashion.ThePomodoroTechniquemustnotbemisconstruedasa formof thiskind of external control. Instead, the technique was created to satisfy thepersonalneedtoimprove,andithastobeappliedspontaneously.Casesofresults-orientedpeoplearemorecommon.Ifeverytickseemslikean

invitation toworkquickly and if every tock repeats thequestion “Am Igoingfast enough?” these are signs of full immersion in what we might call theBecomingSyndrome.Today this isquitecommon.Theunderlying fearpeoplehavehere is usually the inability to demonstrate their effectiveness as fully asthey’d like to others and to themselves. The Pomodoro is a method forcomparison,ifnotwithothersthenatleastwiththemselves,andeverytickandtockseemstorevealtheirlackofability.Underpressurefromtimethatpasses,they look for shortcuts, but this isn’t the way to go faster; shortcuts lead todefectsandinterruptionsthatfeedintotheirfearoftimeinaviciouscircle.Howcantheyhearthetickingasacalmingsound?Theideaorthesolutionmightbejustaroundthecornerwiththenexttick,butthey’llmissitiftheykeepthinkingabouthowquicklytimeispassing.ThefirstthingtolearnwiththePomodoroTechniqueisthatseemingfastisn’t

important;reachingthepointofactuallybeingfastis.Youdothisbylearningtomeasureyourself,observehowyouwork,anddevelop thevalueofcontinuity.This is why the first objective to achieve with the Pomodoro Technique issimplytomarkdownthePomodorosyou’vecompleted.If it takes four Pomodoros to draft a simple two-page review, it’s not

importantthatyouexpectedtofinishintwoPomodorosorthatyouwanttoshoweveryonethatyoucanfinishintwo.What’simportantis tofindouthowtogofromfourtotwo.The initial challenge is knowing how to analyze the way you work on the

basis of test measurements collected every 30 minutes and not havingexpectations about the result. Simply work, track, observe, and change toimprove if you need to. Once this is understood, the ticking starts to have adifferentsound.Youneedtoconcentratetobefast.The next step is to estimate and—why not?—even challenge yourself to

succeedincompletingaparticularactivitywithintheestimatedtime.Thisisone

oftherulesofthegameforthePomodoroTechnique,butnevertakeshortcuts!TheXsmarkingcompletedPomodorosarefrustratingwhentheygetcloserandclosertothelastestimatedPomodorobox.Butyouhavetobebraveandkeeponworking,stayingcalmandconcentrating,tobesuccessful.Stimulatingthevalueofcontinuityleadstoproductivityandcreativity.EverytickofthePomodoro,ifyouhearit,isaninvitationtostayfocusedandalertandtocontinue.

At first, even getting through a single Pomodoro a day without interruptions is an

excellent result, because it allows you to observe your process. The next day your

effort will be focused on completing at least one Pomodoro with no interruptions,

possibly twoormore.With thePomodoroTechnique, thenumberofPomodorosyou

finish doesn’t matter so much as the pathway to consistently achieving more

Pomodoros.This same incrementalapproachshouldbeusedwhenyou takeup the

PomodoroTechniqueagainafter youhaven’t used it for awhile (for example,when

yougetback fromavacation). In this case, it takespatienceandabit of training to

reach10to12Pomodorosadayconsistently.

CONSTANTINTERNALINTERRUPTIONS

When you perceive internal interruptions as things that can’t be postponed, itbecomesdifficulttocompleteevenasinglePomodoroinawholeday.Inthesecases,wesuggestthatyousetthePomodorofor25minutesandforceyourself,PomodoroafterPomodoro, toincrease(and,moreimportant,neverreduce)thetime you work nonstop. The final objective is to get to the 25-minute markhaving worked continuously, with no interruptions: “In this Pomodoro I’vemanaged to work for ten minutes without interruptions; in the next one I’mgoing to work no less than ten minutes, maybe even just one minute more.”ResultscomePomodoroafterPomodoro.

THENEXTPOMODOROWILLGOBETTERThe feeling of having time to do things and not using it well is oftenincapacitating.Yourmindstartswanderingfromthepasttothefuture:“IfonlyI’ddonethatresearchontheInternetyesterday,andifonlyI’dsentthate-maillastweek.HowamIgoingtodeliverthereportbynextweek?”Thisprovokes

feelingsofguiltandcreatesanxiety-filledsituations.The Pomodoro Technique allows you to keep your focus on the current

Pomodoroor,oncethat’sdone,thenextPomodoro.Yourattentionisonthehereandnow, emphasizing the search for a concreteway to stimulate the value ofcontinuityandcarryoutactivitiesinthemostreasonableorder.Whenyoufeel lost,aPomodorocanbededicated toexploration togetyour

prioritiesstraightandlayoutanewplan.Ifyourideasareclearbutsomething’smissing—maybe determination, maybe a bit of courage—don’t sit aroundwaiting.WindupthePomodoroandstartworking.Peoplewho have the habit of procrastinating say that they benefit from the

fact that the Pomodoro enables them to concentrate and achieve little things(activities that take five to seven Pomodoros’ worth of effort at the most),withouthavingtoworryabouteverything.OnePomodoroatatime,oneactivityatatime,oneobjectiveatatime.Forpersonalitytypeswithastrongtendencytoprocrastinate, it’s important to realize that the initial objective is to finish onePomodoro—25minutesofworkonaparticularactivity—withoutinterruptions.

WHATTYPEOFTIMERWORKSBEST?What kind of Pomodoro is most effective: a mechanical timer or a piece ofsoftware?Speakingfromexperience,themosteffectivePomodoroisalwaysthekitchen timer. Inanycase, toguarantee thegreatestpossibleeffectiveness, thePomodorohastomeetanumberofrequirements:

Youhavetobeabletowinditup.TheactofwindingupthePomodoroisadeclarationofyourdeterminationtostartworkingontheactivityathand.Ithastoshowclearlyhowmuchtimeisleft,anditshouldmakeatickingsoundastimepasses.Thisisawaytopracticefeelingtimeandstayfocused.Itshouldmakeanaudible,easilyidentifiedsoundtosignalthattime’sup.

What’s more, to mark the end of a Pomodoro or to eliminate a finishedactivityfromtheToDoTodaySheet,Pomodoropractitionersshoulduseexplicitgestures.Forthisreason,it’sbetterifthosegesturesaren’tautomated.

IMPROVINGESTIMATES

One of the more tangible results that can be attained with the PomodoroTechnique involves improving theability toestimate.Thisdevelopsalong twopathways:

IMPROVEMENTOFQUANTITATIVEESTIMATESbyreducingtheerrorbetweenestimatedPomodorosandactualPomodoros.Inotherwords,whenoneisplanningtheday’stasks,theeffortneededtocompleteaspecificactivitycanbepredictedaccurately.Self-observationand30-minutemeasurementsarethebasisformoreexactestimates.Experienceshowsthatapositivesignofimprovementinestimationoccurswhenthenumberofcasesofunderestimationisequaltothenumberofcasesofoverestimation.Astrategyorientedtowardsystematicoverestimationorunderestimationdoesnotleadtoquantitativeimprovement.Learningtoestimateisessentialtobeingeffective.IMPROVEMENTOFQUALITATIVEESTIMATESbyreducingthenumberofactivitiesthatwerenotincludedintheplanningphase.Inotherwords,whileoneisplanningtheday’stasks,thenumbersandtypesofactivitiesthatactuallyhavetobedonecanbepinpointed(weakversion)or,evenbetter,thespecificsetofactivitiesthatservetoachievethegivenobjectivewiththeleastpossibleeffortcanbeidentified(strongversion).Overallunderestimationhappenswhenwedon’tcorrectlyidentifytheactivitiesthathavetobedoneordon’trealizethattheactivitieswehaveidentifiedaren’tthemosteffective.WiththePomodoroTechnique,unplannedactivitiesaretrackedwhentheyemerge.ObservingandunderstandingthenatureoftheseactivitiesallowsPomodorouserstohonetheirforecastingandorganizingskills.

WhydoesthePomodoroTechniqueimprovebothaspectsofestimation?Oneof the common causes of quantitative and qualitative improvement is that theactivitieswemeasurearecontinuallydividedupaccordingtothefollowingrule:IfittakesmorethanfivetosevenPomodoros,breakitdown.Smalleractivitiesaremoreunderstandableandeasier toestimate,andso the

margin of error shrinks. Smaller activities (but not too small) enable us torecognizesimplersolutions.Infact,theaimofbreakingdownactivitiesshouldnever be simply to divide them up as far as possible. Instead, the point is toidentifyincrementalpathsthathavetheleastpossiblecomplexity.

MOTIVATIONANDTHEPOMODORO

With the Pomodoro Technique, three factors contribute to boosting personalmotivation:

Completingseveralactivitiesadaythataren’ttoosimpleortoocomplex(Rule:IfittakesmorethanfivetosevenPomodoros,breakitdown)andthathelpyoureachyourobjectiveDirectlyinfluencingpersonalimprovementonaday-to-daybasisBeingawareofhowyouwork/howyou’reworkingthankstocontinualobservationandmeasurement

ANDIFEVERYTHINGGOESCOMPLETELYWRONG?Whatshouldyoudoifyougetcaughtupinarushorhaveacaseofnervesorapanic attack? If you start feeling the anxiety of becoming and the deadline isgettingcloserbythesecond?Whatshouldyoudointhecaseoftotalparalysis?Thatcanhappen.It’sonlyhuman.ThePomodoroTechniqueisextremelyusefulinthesecircumstances.First,takealookatthesituation.Trytounderstandwhatwentwrongduring

thelastPomodoro.Ifnecessary,reorganizeactivities;beopentonewthingstoinclude and innovative strategies for pinpointing essential tasks. Focus on thenext Pomodoro. Keep on working. Concentration and consciousness lead tospeed,onePomodoroatatime.If you’re especially tired, you need to organize shorter sets (e.g., three

Pomodoros)andtakelongerbreaksbetweensets.Themoretiredyouareorthemore behind or panic-stricken you feel, themore important it is to repeat andreviewratherthanforgeaheadatallcosts.Thekeyobjectiveisnevertorecoverlosttimebutinsteadtobefocusedontakingthenextsteponyourchosenpath,whichyouoften—consciously—change.

THEPOMODOROHASALIMIT

Themaindisadvantageof thePomodoroTechnique is that to reachyourgoalseffectively, you need to accept help from a little mechanical object.

Discontinuing theuseof thePomodoroTechniqueactuallydiminishesmostofthepositiveeffectsdescribedabove.Thoughyouretaintheabilitytobreakdownactivitiesincrementallyandmaykeeptakingshortbreaks,thedisciplineensuredby the Pomodoro seems to be the key to maintaining a high level ofeffectiveness.

WHENNOTTOUSETHEPOMODOROThePomodoroTechnique shouldn’t be used for activities you do in your freetime. In fact, use of thePomodorowouldmake these activities scheduled andgoal-oriented.That’snolongerfreetime.Ifyoudecidetoreadabooksimplyforpleasure,youshouldn’tuse thePomodoroTechnique.This isunscheduledfreetime.

I

MASTERINGTHETECHNIQUE

nactualfact,thepositiveeffectsofthePomodoroTechniqueonindividualorteam productivity come from a number of different factors. Those factors aresummarizedbelow.

INVERTINGTHEDEPENDENCYONTIME

ThePomodoro representsanabstractionof time,abox thatcanholdand limitbecomingandonwhichtimedependsintheend.It’spreciselybybreakingandinvertingourdependencyonbecoming thatadifferentvisionof timeemerges.Bymeasuringourselvesagainstafiniteabstractionoftime—thePomodoro—wecansucceedinbreakingourdirectdependencyontheconceptofbecoming.Specifically, the time-boxing concept and the typical Pomodorian notion of

time running backward (from 25 minutes to 0) generate positive tension(eustress) thatcanfacilitate thedecision-makingprocess.Ingeneral terms, thisstimulates the vital contact you need to assert yourself and at the same timeaccomplishactivities.Thepassageoftimeisperceivednolongerasnegativebutaspositive.Every

Pomodoro represents the opportunity to improve or, in crisis situations, toreorganizerapidly.Themoretimepasses,thebetterthechancetoimproveyourprocess.Themore timepasses, themoreeasilyactivitiescanbeestimatedand

scheduled.Themore timepasses, themore the feelingof anxiety is assuaged,and in its place come enhanced consciousness, sharper focus on the here andnow, and a clearermind in deciding on your nextmove. The result is higherproductivity.Moreover, the same dependency inversion mechanism is applied in the

Pomodoro Technique to reduce and eliminate interruptions. This increasesconcentration and continuity in work, and here, too, there is a considerablecorrelatedriseinproductivity.

REGULATINGCOMPLEXITY

We can maximize our motivation by accomplishing several challengingactivitieseverydaythatareneithertoocomplexnortooeasysimplybyapplyingthefollowingrules:

IfittakesmorethanfivetosevenPomodoros,breakitdown.IfittakeslessthanonePomodoro,additup.

Less complex activities are usually easier to estimate, and so quantitativeestimates improve. Breaking down activities so that they deliver incrementalvaluealsobolstersourdeterminationtoattainourobjectives.

DETACHMENT

Frequent breaks with the Pomodoro are essential to achieving more lucid,conscious, and effective mental capacity with a resulting increase inproductivity. It is important to note that in many environments there is anaversion to breaks, as if they were a sign of weakness. Common wisdom inmanycompaniesseemstobe“Realmanagersstartthemeetingat9a.m.andendat 10 p.m. and never leave their office.”This extreme behavior atwork oftenlays a solid foundation for frustration, poor concentration, and, consequently,ineffectiveness.ByapplyingthePomodoroTechnique,manypeoplehavebeguntounderstand

thevalueandeffectivenessofdetachment.Abreakevery25minutesletsyouseethings from a different perspective and enables you to comeupwith different

solutions; you often find mistakes to correct, and your creative processes arestimulated.Detachmentenhancesthevalueofcontinuity.Butthebreakreallyhastobeabreak.Itdoesnotconsistsimplyofstopping

an activity when the 25-minute buzzer rings or when a set is finished andcontinuing to think about that task during the break. With the PomodoroTechnique, you get used to stopping and disengaging from continuous worksituations that don’t improve individual or team effectiveness. Stopping,detaching,andobservingyourself from theoutsideenhanceawarenessofyourbehavior.Stoppingbecomessynonymouswithstrength,notweakness.

OBSERVATIONANDCONTINUALFEEDBACK

ThePomodoroTechniquerepresentsamethodofcomparisonevery25minutes.The first and last 5minutesof aPomodoro,which serve to reviewand repeatwhat you’ve done, enable you to realizewhether a certain course of action iseffective. Pair work magnifies this positive phenomenon more than doesindividual or group work. In the most critical cases, it’s possible to changedirectionfromtheverynextPomodoro,reschedulingtheactivities thatneedtobedone.Recording data at least once a day,with tracking every 30minutes, lets us

assesstheeffectivenessofourmodusoperandionthebasisofobjectivemetrics.By observingwhat you’ve recorded, you canmake a decision tomodify yourprocess, improving the content of activities, defining clearer objectives orbreakingdownactivities,identifyingandeliminatingduplicatedorunnecessaryactivity or phases, and testing alternative strategies for assembling activitieswhilereducingerrorinqualitativeestimates.Thechancetoaffectyourworkorstudyprocessdirectlybysteeringittoward

improvement stimulates your personal interest in accomplishing activities byassertingyourself.

SUSTAINABLEPACE

Respectingthetimetableforworkandbreakscontributestotheachievementofcontinuity.Infact,toguaranteeconsistentlyhighproductivity,itisnoteffectivetomakeyourselfworkor studynonstop frommorning tillnight.An industrial

machinecertainlyproducesmore if itworksa long timewithout stopping,buthumanbeingsdon’tfunctionlikeindustrialmachines.ByrespectingthescheduleforbreaksbetweensinglePomodorosandsetsof

Pomodoros, you canwork and studywhilemaintaining your pace.You’ll gettired,whichisonlynatural,butyouwon’tbecomeexhausted.Inotherwords,byconsciously managing breaks and the complexity of content, in time, anyonewhousesthePomodoroTechniquecancometoknowhisorhersustainablepaceorphysiologicalrhythm.

RTHENEXTSTEP

eady to go? Already have a timer? Downloaded the templates andworksheetsfromthePomodoroTechniquewebsite?Thenlet’sgetstarted.

Apathofimprovementliesbeforeyouthatinvolvesdiscipline,observation,andfun.Setting the timerandworkingwith thePomodoroTechniquewillprovideyou with positive results even before you have reached the first of thetechnique’ssixobjectives.Whatcouldhelpyoutakethenextstep?Hereareafewtipsandsuggestionsto

keepyouonthepathofstep-by-stepimprovement:

EACHANDEVERYPOMODOROISIMPORTANT.Theobjectiveoftheentiretechniqueistodeveloppersonalawarenessoftime;thatis,tobecomeawareofeachofyournextsteps.Witheachstep,yousupportthedevelopmentofthisawareness.Observationrequireseffortanddiscipline,andsoyouneedtocollectinformationabouthowyouwork—andyouneedtodoitinasystematicway.It’sgreattoamazeourselveswithourimprovementsandtoridourselvesofillusionsalongtheway.YOUDON’THAVETOCOMPETEWITHTIME.WiththePomodoroTechnique,timeisatoolthatpromotesyourworkifitisusedinaconsciousway.Awarenessistheobjective,andtimeisthetool.Wouldyoucompetewithahammer?There’snopoint.Insomecases,youmayfeelthedesiretoprevailovertime;forexample,whenyoufeeltheneedtocompleteahighnumberofPomodorosbytheendofthedaytobeatsomerecord.Indoingso,however,youalreadyhavelost,forasBaudelairesaid:“Timeisagreedyplayerwhowinswithoutcheating,everyround.”1Anyformof

competitionwithtimeisdestinedtofail.Supposethatduringoneofthesecompetitionsyousuddenlyrealizewhatyouaredoing.Thenwhat?Whatshouldyoudo?StopthePomodoroandtakeadeepbreath.Remember:ThenextPomodorowillgobetter.TAKEBREAKS.ThebreakisthemostimportantstructuralelementofthePomodoroTechnique.Breaksallowyoutostepawayforamoment,recognizefatigue,anddecidewhethertostoporcontinue.BytakingabreakyouwillbeginthenextPomodorowithgreaterclarityandwillingnesstowork.Breaksmakeusmoreproductive,andtheydon’tinvolveanywork.ACHIEVEONEOBJECTIVEATATIME.ThePomodoroTechniqueisdividedintoaseriesofincrementalobjectives.Successinreachingeachobjectiveisfosteredbyconsciousapplicationandsuccesswithpreviousobjectives.Todeterminewhetheryouhavetrulyachievedanobjectiveandtoavoiddeceivingyourself,itcanbeusefultoformulatetheexpectedimprovementsthatshouldbeobtainedfromthevariousobjectivesbyaskingquestionstowhichyoucanansweryesorno:

HaveIbeenmorealertandclearheadedusingthefirstandlastfewminutesofthePomodorotoreviewwhatIhavedone?HaveIfoundthatrevisingandrepeatingactivitiesismoreeffectiveifitisdonealoud?HaveIfoundthatrevisingandrepeatingactivitiesismoreeffectivewhenitisdonewithapartner?

Ifyounoticethatyoukeepansweringnoandcannoteasilyachieveacertainobjective, ask yourself if you have applied the previous objectives fully andconsciously. In any case, hold off onworking on an objective until you haveachievedthepreviousones.

THEREISNONEEDTORUSH.YourobjectiveisnottoreachalltheobjectivesofthePomodoroTechniqueinaslittletimeaspossible;thatwouldjustbeanotherwayofcompetingwithtime.Yes,slowdown.There’snoreasontorush.Takeyourtime.Enjoythewayinwhichyouachievethecurrentobjective.Pleasuredoesnotcomefromhurryingonnervouslytothenextobjectivebutfromconsciouslyexperiencingthecurrentone.

Enoughsaid.Nowit’sPomodoroTime.Letthefunbegin!

1CharlesBaudelaire,FlowersofEvil,OxfordUniversityPress,2008.

RULES

APomodoroconsistsof25minutesplusa5-minutebreak(thispage).

AftereveryfourPomodoros,takea15-to30-minutebreak(thispage).

ThePomodoroisindivisible.TherearenohalforquarterPomodoros(thispage,thispage,thispage).

IfaPomodorobegins,ithastoring(thispage).

IfaPomodoroisinterrupteddefinitively,it’svoid(thispage).

IfyoucompleteanactivityduringaPomodoro,reviewyourworkuntilthePomodororings(thispage).

ProtectthePomodoro.Informeffectively,negotiatequicklytorescheduletheinterruption,andgetbacktothepersonwhointerruptedyou,asagreed(thispage).

IfittakesmorethanfivetosevenPomodoros,breakitdown.Complexactivitiesshouldbedividedintoseveralactivities(thispage,thispage,thispage,thispage,thispage).

IfittakeslessthanonePomodoro,additup.Simpletaskscanbecombined(thispage,thispage,thispage).

ResultsareachievedPomodoroafterPomodoro(thispage).

TheTimetableAlwaysOverridesthePomodoro(thispage,thispage).

OneMicroteam,OnePomodoro.EachmicroteamhasandmanagesitsownPomodoro(thispage,thispage).

ThenextPomodorowillgobetter(thispage,thispage,thispage,thispage).

GLOSSARY

POMODORO.Akitchentimerusedtomeasure25-minuteintervals.Thenameofthetechniquecomesfromthefirst timerused,whichwasshapedlikeatomato(pomodoroinItalian).

TIME-BOXING.Withthistechnique,onceaseriesofactivitieshasbeenassignedtoa specific time interval, the delivery date for those activities should neverchange.Ifnecessary,theunfinishedactivitiescanbereassignedtothenexttimeinterval.

QUALITATIVEESTIMATIONERROR.Thiserroroccurswhenalltheactivitiesneededtoreachacertaingoalhavenotbeenidentified.

QUANTITATIVE ESTIMATION ERROR. This error occurs when the estimation of asingle activity (or set of activities) is higher (overestimation) or lower(underestimation)thantheactualeffort.

GETTOWORK

THEOFFICIALWEBSITE

FrancescoCirillo.com/pages/pomodorotechnique

THEOFFICIALBOOKSITE

FrancescoCirillo.com/products/the-pomodoro-technique

THEPUBLICCOURSE

FrancescoCirillo.com/products/pomodorotechnique-public-course

LearndirectlyfromFrancescoCirillo,creatorofthePomodoroTechnique,withthishands-ontrainingcourse.

THEONLINECOURSE

FrancescoCirillo.com/products/pomodorotechnique-online-course

LearndirectlyfromFrancescoCirillo,creatorofthePomodoroTechnique,withthisonlinecourse.

CERTIFICATION

FrancescoCirillo.com/products/certified-pomodoro-technique-practitioner

Become a Certified Pomodoro Technique Practitioner with this self-guidedcertificationprogramthatyoucandofromanywhere.

EVENTSANDMEETUPS

FrancescoCirillo.com/pages/calendar

Conferences and fun get-togethers where you can meet other PomodoroTechniqueusers,FrancescoCirillo,andmembersofthePomodoroTeam.

FACEBOOK

Facebook.com/francescocirilloconsulting

TWITTER

Twitter.com/pomodorotech

E-MAILpomodorotechnique@francescocirillo.com

(DownloadaPDFhere)

(DownloadaPDFhere)

(DownloadaPDFhere)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CharlesBaudelaire,FlowersofEvil(OxfordUniversityPress,2008),ISBN978-0199535583.

HenriBergson,CreativeEvolution(BookJungle,2009),ISBN978-1438528175.

JeromeBruner,TheProcessofEducation(HarvardUniversityPress,1977),ISBN978-0674710016.

JaneB.BurkaandLenoraM.Yuen,Procrastination:WhyYouDoIt,WhattoDoAboutItNow(DaCapoLifelongBooks,2008),ISBN978-0738211701.

TonyBuzan,TheBrainUser’sGuide(Plume,1983),ISBN978-0525480457.

Hans-GeorgGadamer,TruthandMethod(Continuum,2004),ISBN978-0826405852.

TomGilb,PrinciplesofSoftwareEngineeringManagement(Addison-Wesley,1996),ISBN978-0201192469.

AbrahamH.Maslow,TowardaPsychologyofBeing(Wiley,1998),ISBN978-0471293095.

EugèneMinkowski,LivedTime(NorthwesternUniversityPress,1970),ISBN978-0810103221.

FACKNOWLEDGMENTS

irstandforemost,IwanttothankmyfriendandmentorGiovanniCaputo,forhavingaccompaniedmeyetagainonthisadventure.Thanks also go to everyonewho encouragedme to write and improve this

book: Katrin Rampf, Marco Isella, Crawford McCubbin, Katharina Martina,Carlo Garatti, Lucy Vauclair, Michelle Ogata, Mick McGovern, PiergiulianoBossi, Claudia Sandu, Meihua Su, Daniela Faggion, and Alessandra DelVecchio,tonameafew.Thanks to all those who learned the Pomodoro Technique through my

workshops;theirfeedbackenabledmetoobservethetechniqueandimproveit.Inparticular:AnnWilson,LeeSullivan,KatieGeddes,SimoneGenini,BrunoBossola, Giannandrea Castaldi, Roberto Crivelli, Ernesto Di Blasio, AlbertoQuario, Loris Ugolini, Alberico Gualfetti, Marco Dani, Luigi Mengoni,LeonardoMarinangeli,FedericoDeFelici,andNicolaCanalini.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR

FRANCESCO CIRILLO is the inventor of the PomodoroTechnique.Aninnovatorinprocess-improvementmethods,aswellas an entrepreneur, software designer, mentor, and instructor,Francesco has trained thousands of people around the world. Hecurrently teaches at the Berlin School of Economics and Law.Francesco also runs Cirillo Consulting, where he develops newtoolsandtechniquestoimproveindividualandteamproductivity.

TolearnmoreaboutFrancescoandCirilloConsultingvisitwww.FrancescoCirillo.com.

What’snextonyourreadinglist?

Discoveryournextgreatread!

Getpersonalizedbookpicksandup-to-datenewsaboutthisauthor.

Signupnow.