Using the Pomodoro Technique to produce productivity gains and get things done. Presentation touches upon using the Pomodoro Technique to support developers new to pair programming
2. Employees have pressure to perform at work
Skilled workers need to concentrate on tasks
Ego depletion
Procrastination
Open plan offices
Multi tasking
Day to day distractions
4. David Allen
Core concept: break tasks down into actions and store
them in an organized fashion outside of your brain
Grouping actions by contexts allows you to be more
productive by batching similar tasks
Storing planned actions enables your brainpower to be
spent on more important things
6. Break your tasks down into small prioritized chunks
Razor sharp focus for 25 minutes
Don’t check mails, Facebook etc
Indicate to others you are in a pomodoro
If things come up, log them as tasks and continue your
work
5 minute break time
Try not to do more work during your break (this is
sometimes difficult to achieve)
Reprioritise new tasks and enter the next pomodoro
Celebrate 4 successful pomodoros with a longer 15 break
Try to stretch your legs and rest your eyes
7. Similar to agile on a nano scale
Breaking down your tasks aid creativity and
understanding
Small tasks eliminate procrastination
Timeboxing of difficult tasks
Quickly raise issues/concerns
Avoid burnout and other unhealthy side effects
Predictable structure to your day helps to develop good
work and personal habits
Ticking off tasks gives you a frequent sense of
achievement
8. Brilliant way to equally share driving time
Pomodoro fun builds good team bonds
Upfront clarity on paired task
Non-driving pair remains completely engaged
Use tokens to signal to other pairs you need help
Red and green poker chips
Pomodoros and pairs are separate concepts but work
extremely well together
9. Whole team is not using pomodoros
Volatile/time critical environments
Highly collaborative teams
Junior colleagues in a non-pair environment
Falling out of “flow”
Too many interruptions
Pomodoro/break times too long or short
The low barrier for entry makes trying pomodoros an
easy thing to do in most environments
10. 25 minutes and 5 minutes break is a beginner
guideline
Customise focus and break time durations
Keep timer visible to colleagues at all times
Timer alerts should not disturb nearby colleagues
Long group sessions can also benefit from pomodoros