Pomodoro Technique: are we using it wrong?
Posted on November 26th, 2009 in Craftsmanship, Work | 5 Comments »
The Pomodoro Techinique has received a lot of attention lately. The reason is simple: it works. It improves focus, removes anxiety because of time and, most of all, help us getting things done.
But the greatest benefit of the technique in my point of view is that it exposes all the interruptions and bad habits we have when doing our jobs. And that’s my reason to believe it should be used as a learning tool instead of a new way of working.
That means using the technique as temporary assistance, not the end solution. Instead of using the tool to avoid the factors that decrease our focus, we use it to make them visible and then find ways to avoid them.
After all, do we really need a timer all the time to do our job efficiently?
5 Responses
I kinda agree with you. But I have another point of view: if one person really like programming, I don’t think she or he would be concerned with e-mails and others stuffs. Of course, a little break is good, but it should be taken not every 25 minutes or something like that. As you said, Pomodoro Technique is a nice tool for learning. To see where you are doing things in the wrong way (or what are the things that are stopping you from doing your job).
Ivan, the technique is not just about avoiding interuptions, in my point of view.
Setting the timebox is like making an agreement with yourself. It’s kind of an excuse to others that try to interupt you – “sorry, i’m in the midle of my pomodoro. Come back in 7minutes, please.”
Timer keeps you concentrated because you know it will ring, so you don’t have to worry about time.
Finaly, working in time-boxes helps us visualize the structure of work you made, helping even in estimatives. (I’ve writen about that (in pt-br): http://www.infoq.com/br/news/2009/11/estime-tomates ).
Agreed.
My point was that we should use the technique to learn about the different kind of interruptions and how to avoid them. The pomodoro shouldn’t be the reason to ask people to come back later. The task in progress is what matters.
Agreed again.
What’s the advantage of estimating pomodoros instead of using hours (besides being more fun)? I personally prefer estimating by size, but I know that’s not how a lot of teams like to work.
Cheers,
Ivan
@Ivan Sanchez
Yes, the real reason is the task in progress. But the timer helps. It makes the concentration time tangible…
For estimatives, pomodori creates a single unit of work. Is simplifies things… Don’t know exctly why, but people who works in pomodori visualize the size of the tasks imediately. It’s a familiar length…
A very interesting point of view Ivan.
For me the pomodoro technique is not only about having a distraction free rhythm or work and avoiding interruptions (external and internal ones), but it is more a tool for helping my brain to assimilate the things I am learning in the way better.
The frequent breaks actually give your brain the needed time to assimilate what you have done and organize the new information into the right places.
I have very good experiences with the pomodoro technique so far (have been using it since early this year) and I am glad that I have made it part of my toolset