(2.3.2.2) Pomodoro technique
By applying the idea of timeboxing to personal task management, the Pomodoro technique was born. I mention the length of time "25 minutes" several times in this book. It is decided by referring to the Pomodoro technique. "Agile time management" calls 25 minutes "1 Pomodoro." (*20)
Pomodoro techniques are roughly as the following:
Create a task list for today.
Estimate the size of the task by the number of Pomodoros.
Start timer of 1 Pomodoro (25 minutes) at the start of each task
Focus on one task without changing tasks during a Pomodoro.
If an interrupt by you or another person occurs, record it.
If you can keep the concentrated state while one Pomodoro, stand up and walk at least a few steps and switch the viewpoints (*21)
We often regard "time" as continuous. Cut it to a certain length and name it "Pomodoro." Then, we can estimate the size of the task with the number of pomodoros.
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Footnotes:
*20
Some people misunderstood that there is something profound meaning for the length of 25 minutes, but the length has no meaning. If you can not concentrate on 25 minutes, I recommend to shorten it to 5 minutes or 10 minutes.
*21
Some people with high concentration feel that 25 minutes is short. They tend to think that the Pomodoro technique is a technique for people without concentration.
Let's talk a little about my experiences. I was working on a tough programming challenge, and I did not finish it with one Pomodoro.
As the timer rang, I got up and walked a few steps. At that time, I came up with a better solution than the way I was doing. I hurried back to the desk, and I tried the new idea for 1 Pomodoro. The problem was settled altogether. If I did not use the Pomodoro timer, I continued working in the former approach without finding a better way. The concentration makes our viewpoint closer to the problem and makes our field of view narrower. If you concentrate on a wrong target, it is a less valuable time usage.
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