The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. These intervals are named pomodoros, the plural in English of the Italian word pomodoro (tomato), after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used as a university student.

The technique has been widely popularized by dozens of apps and websites providing timers and instructions. Closely related to concepts such as timeboxing and iterative and incremental development used in software design, the method has been adopted in pair programming contexts.

How to use Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is probably one of the simplest productivity methods to implement. All you'll need is a timer. Beyond that, there are no special apps, books, or tools required. Cirillo's book, The Pomodoro Technique, is a helpful read, but Cirillo himself doesn't hide the core of the method behind a purchase. Here's how to get started with Pomodoro, in five steps:

1. Choose a task to be accomplished.
2. Set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes (the Pomodoro is the timer)
3. Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper
4. Take a short break (usually 5 minutes)
5. Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break (10~30 minutes)

It's important to note that a pomodoro is an indivisible unit of work—that means if you're distracted part-way by a coworker, meeting, or emergency, you either have to end the pomodoro there (saving your work and starting a new one later), or you have to postpone the distraction until the pomodoro is complete. If you can do the latter, Cirillo suggests the "inform, negotiate, and call back" strategy:

1. Inform the other (distracting) party that you're working on something right now.
2. Negotiate a time when you can get back to them about the distracting issue in a timely manner.
3. Schedule that follow-up immediately.
4. Call back the other party when your pomodoro is complete and you're ready to tackle their issue.

Here are some of the videos that explain more and demonstrate the technique

Pomodoro Technique - Improve Studying and Productivity

STUDY WITH ME (with music) 2.5 HOURS POMODORO SESSION!

References:

Pomodoro technique homepage

Pomodoro technique wikipedia page

https://lifehacker.com/productivity-101-a-primer-to-the-pomodoro-technique-1598992730

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Getting Things Done - GTD

Getting Things Done or GTD is a time management method, described in a book of the same title by productivity consultant David Allen. 

The GTD method rests on the idea of moving planned tasks and projects out of the mind by recording them externally and then breaking them into actionable work items. This allows one to focus attention on taking action on tasks, instead of recalling them.

GTD is based on storing, tracking, and retrieving the information related to the things that need to get done. Mental blocks we encounter are caused by insufficient 'front-end' planning. This means thinking in advance, generating a series of actions which can later be undertaken without further planning. The mind's "reminder system" is inefficient and seldom reminds us of what we need to do at the time and place when we can do it. Consequently, the "next actions" stored by context in the "trusted system" act as an external support which ensures that we are presented with the right reminders at the right time. As GTD relies on external reminders, it can be seen as an application of the theories of distributed cognition or the extended mind

References:

Getting Things Done homepage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done

Books:

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

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