The Pomodoro Technique: The Acclaimed Time-Management System That Has Transformed How We Work

by Francesco Cirillo

Overview

Discover the internationally acclaimed time management system that’s gone viral on TikTok and has already changed millions of lives!

Francesco Cirillo developed his famed system for improving productivity as a college student thirty years ago. Using a kitchen timer shaped like a pomodoro (Italian for tomato), Cirillo divided the time he spent working on a project into 25-minute intervals, with 5-minute breaks in between, in order to get more done, without interruptions.  By grouping a number of pomodoros together, users can tackle a project of any length, and drastically improve their productivity, enhance their focus, and better achieve their goals.

Originally self-published, and shared virally online, this new publication of The Pomodoro Technique includes several new chapters on how teams can use the pomodoro method to save time and increase productivity. The process underlying Cirillo’s technique includes five stages: planning the day’s tasks, tracking your efforts, recording your daily activities, processing what you have done, and visualizing areas for improvement. With this tried and tested method, readers can simplify their work, find out how much time and effort a task really requires, and improve their focus so they can get more done in the same amount of time each day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524760700
Publisher:	Crown Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/14/2018
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.22(w) x 7.76(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Francesco Cirillo is a partner in Cirillo Consulting, a business consulting firm based in Berlin that works with many of the world's largest companies. He created the Pomodoro technique while a unversity student, looking for a way to get more done in less time. His system of working in 25 minute increments, without interruption, with five minute breaks, has been adopted by productivity experts the world over. Cirillo wrote a 130 page book on the technique in 2006 which he offered as a free download. It was downloaded over 2 million times—about 250,000 times a year—before the author took the pdf down in 2013, and restricted access to the book to his personal website. This publication marks the first time the book has been available for purchase through retail channels.

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The Context
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Excerpted from "The Pomodoro Technique"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Francesco Cirillo.
Excerpted by permission of The Crown Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Preface To The 2018 Edition 11

Preface 15

Introduction 17

Foundations

The Context 21

Goals of the Pomodoro Technique 23

Basic Assumptions 23

Reaching Your Individual Goals

Material and Method 27

Objective I Find Out How Much Effort an Activity Requires 30

Start the First Pomodoro 31

Every Four Pomodoros 33

Completing an Activity 34

Recording 36

Improvement 38

The Nature of the Pomodoro 39

Objective II Cut Down On Interruptions 40

Internal Interruptions 40

Scenario 42

External Interruptions 49

Systematic Interruptions 53

Recording: Qualitative Estimation Errors in Planning 55

Objective III Estimate the Effort for Activities 56

Available Pomodoros 59

Possible Scenarios 60

Recording Estimates 64

Managing Exploration 67

Objective IV Make the Pomodoro More Effective 68

The Structure of the Pomodoro 68

The Structure of the Pomodoro Set 69

Objective V Set Up A Timetable 70

The Best Case Scenario 72

A Scenario with Interruptions 74

Optimizing Your Timetable 75

Objective VI Define Your Own Personal Improvement Objective 77

Reaching Your Team Goals

Applying the Pomodoro Technique On A Team 83

All Too Often, Teams Become Prey to Their Goals 84

How Can the Pomodoro Technique Help a Team Reach Its Goals? 85

Adapting the Tools of The Technique To A Team 87

Does Each Member of the Team Have Their Own Pomodoro, or Is There a Pomodoro for the Whole Team? 88

What Is a Microteam? 88

Why Not Have One Pomodoro for All the Members of the Team? 90

How Can We Arrange for Everyone to Attend a Meeting? 91

Who Sets the Pomodoro? Who Makes the Estimates? Who Records the Pomodoros? 92

Do We Need to Modify the Pomodoro Technique Sheets? 93

Simple Practices to Get Your Team Started 96

Pomodoro Rotations 96

Snap Your Pomodoro 98

Why Teams Need More Advanced Practices 99

How Can the Pomodoro Technique Help a Team Manage Complexity, Interruptions, and Bottlenecks? 101

The Practice of The Counter 102

Problem 103

Solution 103

Pros and Cons 107

The Practice of The Pomodoro Hackathon 109

Problem 110

Solution 110

Pros and Cons 114

The Practice of The Ram 115

Problem 116

Solution 117

Pros and Cons 122

Results

Observations 125

Learning Time 125

The Length of the Pomodoro 126

Varying the Length of Breaks 127

A Different Perception of Time 129

Sounds of the Pomodoro 130

Shapes of the Pomodoro 131

Ring Anxiety 131

Constant Internal Interruptions 134

The Next Pomodoro Will Go Better 134

What Type of Timer Works Best? 135

Improving Estimates 136

Motivation and the Pomodoro 138

And If Everything Goes Completely Wrong? 138

The Pomodoro Has a Limit 139

When Not to Use the Pomodoro 139

Mastering The Technique 140

Inverting the Dependency on Time 140

Regulating Complexity 141

Detachment 141

Observation and Continual Feedback 142

Sustainable Pace 143

The Next Step 144

Rules 149

Glossary 150

Get To Work 151

To Do Today Sheet 153

Activity Inventory Sheet 154

Records Sheet 155

Bibliography 156

Acknowledgments 157