Tag: the pomodoro technique

Working Hard at a Job

In here before I’ve reviewed the book The Pomodoro Technique about a time management strategy for completing tasks at a job or elsewhere.

You set a kitchen timer for 25 minutes in which to work on part of a project. When the timer goes off you set it for five minutes in which to do nothing and rest.

Then set the timer for a new 25 minute time period. Use 3 or 4 “pomodoros” in the morning and 3 or 4 “pomodoros” in the afternoon.

The author of the book and creator of this technique had used a kitchen timer in the shape of a tomato. He is Italian and pomodoro is Italian for tomato. Sounds so much better than The Tomato Technique right?”

I think using pomodoros is an effective way to pace yourself throughout the workday and not get frazzled. The Pomodoro Technique is a way to work hard in the right way.

Research indicates that the more hours you work at a job every week over 40 hours the less productive a person is. The goal should not be warming a chair for 50 hours. It should be doing your best work within an 8 hour workday routinely. With little need for overtime. Except maybe during a crunch period like the launch of a new product.

Too each of us workers should take one break in the morning and one break in the afternoon. Even if the break is just 15 minutes.

One career strategist years ago recommended taking a 2-hour lunch on your job. I wouldn’t go that far unless you’re networking at lunch or meeting a client.

Coming up in the next blog entry a review of a book for college students who would like to get a job after they graduate. In keeping with my love of library work the author of this book urges young people to find a job that reflects their life’s purpose.

The Pomodoro Technique

A method for controlling your time on the job that I think everyone should use is the Pomodoro Technique.

Creator and author of the book the Pomodoro Technique Francesco Cirillo originally used a kitchen timer shaped like a tomato. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato.

I wrote about this before: You set a kitchen timer for 25 minutes. Use the block of time for a section of a work project. When the timer goes off set it for a five-minute break period. In the five minutes do nothing related to the work project.

Schedule 3 to 5 Pomodoros in the morning. Take lunch. Continue with 3 to 5 Pomodoros in the afternoon.

The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system I instantly fell in love with. Its creator Francesco Cirillo is an Italian from Italy.

Pomodoro is Italian for tomato. The Pomodoro Technique sounds so much better than The Tomato Technique.

The author was a student studying for an exam in 1987 when he first used a kitchen timer like the tomato design one on the book cover.

You time-box the tasks you have to complete each day into multiple “Pomodoros.”

Set the kitchen timer for 25 minutes to allot for one task. At the sound of the timer going off at 25 minutes take a five-minute break.

Schedule each Pomodoro in 25-minute intervals.

This is a genius time management system. Up soon I plan to buy a kitchen timer for this purpose.

The timer will tick while you’re working and that’s okay if you are the only one in the room. Or if you work in an office where you can close the door.

In the book Cirillo gives tactics for using team Pomodoros.

25-minute intervals are the perfect length of the Pomodoros.

There’s no reason to warm a chair 10 hours a day at your desk at work. The trick is that you should be productive within a normal seven-hour workday.

The Pomodoro Technique is perfetto as Italians would say.

It’s the perfect solution to getting things done with more focus power and energy.