https://unsplash.com/@faceline Productivity by the numbers with a Pomodoro timer My earliest days as a Real Programmer were full of anxiety towards my . I didn’t want to waste any time at all becoming the most talented, efficient I could be, and I thought that maximizing my productivity was the first step ( ). ™ productivity developer spoiler alert: it wasn’t So it came as a bit of a shock to me when I started paying attention to my “off” days. You know, those days where you just aren’t feeling it or you don’t get quite as much done as you’d like. Initially I’d chalk it up not getting enough sleep, or not having enough interesting things to work on. I quickly ran out of excuses, but I still couldn’t identify the root cause of these little slumps. Furthermore, I started questioning my productivity all together. When I transitioned to being remote ( ), these questions only became more pressing. Was today actually productive? Did I spend enough time writing code? Did I waste a little too much time on Hacker News? pssst Khan Academy’s engineering team is remote-friendly! I know I was at the doctor from 11 to 12:30, did I make up the time I was away from my keyboard? A little bit of time tracking As much as I’d love to romanticize it, it wasn’t that much of an existential crisis. I was still happy with the work I was doing, and I was learning a lot at my job. I’m fortunate to work at a company that doesn’t tally up how long my butt is in the chair, and my hours are extremely flexible. Still, these questions kept popping up in the back of my head, and I found it harder and harder to ignore them. I first tried out the when I was looking for something to help me get up from my keyboard regularly. For those unfamiliar: Pomodoro Technique The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. These intervals are named , the plural in English of the Italian word (tomato), after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used as a university student. The method is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility. pomodoros pomodoro So for me it was just a way to get up every 25 minutes and stretch a bit. I didn’t put much thought into the process, but I felt refreshed taking these regular breaks. I started using that time to do dishes, water plants, or other small chores around the house — it was therapeutic in a way. I still did the normal 9 to 5, and still felt weird when I had an “off” day or was unsure how much extra time I should work when I stepped out for a bit. The pomodoro technique had not yet addressed those problems for me. What’s in a day? It wasn’t until chatting with my colleague a few months later that I thought about using my pomodoro timer differently: Benjamin My friend finally sat down and broke out how many pomodoros he does on a sustainable day, and then just declared that, barring a literal emergency, that was now what a day was. The time arrangement was whatever he wanted, but he only got that much time. No working on non-time and no not-working on pomodoro time. I don’t remember the number, but say it was eight pomodoros, which sounds roughly correct. So, if the day called for it, do eight in a row. Or, do one, then break an hour, then do two more, then go for a bike ride, etc. “That was now what a day was” really struck a nerve with me. All this time I had been wondering why some days were good and some days were bad . Additionally, realizing that this system could support my ad-hoc appointments/errands/other cool stuff remotes just kinda do whenever was illuminating. without having a solid definition of what a day is I decided to try it out. Over the next few weeks I came to the conclusion that — or 4 hours of solid, productive work per day. This allows me to work a comfortable 9 to 5 with plenty of breaks (and an hour for lunch), while paving the way for plenty of productive bursts. my sweet spot was around 10 pomodoros As for those “off” days: I found they usually brought in 6 or fewer pomodoros. These days I might roll in a little late, or have trouble re-adjusting after lunch / a series of meetings. I’ll have a tough time chewing through some of my heavier tasks, but might dabble with a simple bug fix or knock something off my back-burner. . Fire and motion Work that counts It’s important to note that a scale like this is relative, and depends highly on what you consider to be “pomodoro-worthy” work. I have a few odd rules: I get one pomodoro for clearing out my inbox first thing in the morning, but after that . Checking email, catching up on slack, surfing Hacker News — those all occur pomodoros, but they might not for you! For example, if your job has an emphasis on meetings and email, those might be good candidates for pomodoros since they’re more directly related to your responsibilities. only writing and reviewing code count towards a pomodoro between When I feel I’m having an “off” day, and hitting that magic number 10 seems just out of my reach, I may pad my timers with some thought-provoking blog posts, or use my time to catch up on conference talks in my bookmarks. Again, it’s all relative, the important step is just feeling your way around to see what schedule works for you. Personally, I’ve found that this setup lets me . As long I maintain the habit of hitting my pomodoro goals — I know I’m in good shape. stop worrying about how much I get done in a given day or week and focus more on the work at hand — Be sure to where I often tweet bad jokes during my pomodoro breaks. Sometimes I also talk about my new tool, — the greatest contrast tool in the galaxy 🚀 follow me on twitter Shade
