Rate this book

The Pomodoro Technique (2006)

by Francesco Cirillo(Favorite Author)

3.69 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

3981567900 (ISBN13: 9783981567908)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

FC Garage GmbH

review 1: The Technique described in the book is wonderful, a simple yet powerful way to think about time management for anyone who has to juggle diverse tasks during the day and wants to manage his or her time better. The basic idea is to make a plan for each day, and break up tasks into 25-minute chunks, with mandatory breaks of at least three to five minutes between. A 25-minute period is called a "Pomodoro", Italian for tomato, because the Italian author used a mechanical kitchen timer that looks like a tomato when he invented the Technique. Taking frequent mandatory breaks, even if the break is only three minutes to get a drink of water, definitely helps me focus more and work harder. "Quantizing" (my term) the work into 25-minute Pomodori makes measuring my real work outpu... moret easier. I know that if I checked off a Pomodoro then I worked on the task 100% for 25 minutes; I don't start the timer until I'm ready to actually work. At the end of the day, I count how many Pomodori I accomplished. Knowing exactly how much work I can actually accomplish in a day makes realistic planning possible.I won't say that the Technique is for everyone. It probably wouldn't help a factory worker, who already has an efficient external system to monitor and encourage productivity. For some people the Technique may be too simplistic; those people have already mastered the underlying principles. Just don't knock it without trying it first.Some people use a version of the Technique to manage a team effort. I'm not so sure that's a good idea, because to me the Technique is for me to use to be accountable to myself. An employee whose boss demands to see his or her "To Do Sheet" would have a disincentive to be honest, which to me makes the usefulness of the whole system questionable.The book is nice and short; if it were any longer, it would take away from the Technique. I only gave the book four stars out of five because it needs a summary. There used to be a one-page summary "Pomodoro Technique Cheat Sheet" in PDF form downloadable for free from pomodorotechnique.com, but it's not there anymore.
review 2: While I was casting around for a way to organize my day better, I came across this free online. It's an interesting theory that if you break your day up into 25-minute segments, you can get more accomplished with fewer distractions.I'm not opposed to using a timer as a goad to get a project started. For years I've participated in a writing exercise where you write hard and fast for 10 minutes. The key for me is to let the timer be a whip, not a stop sign.Maybe it's because I'm a writer -- and a book needs much longer than a 25-minute increment -- but I found the stricture to stop and take a break really disruptive and frustrating. Once I've gotten my brain into a groove, I don't want to halt. It takes me time to drop into the flow, so I was losing 5 minutes or so of every Pomodoro just reading over my previous work and getting rolling again.I think this process could be useful for other things, but it didn't help me do my work. less

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