Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Between Pomodoros

In the Pomodoro Technique, work is timeboxed into interval of 25 minutes. Between two Pomodoros, there is always a small break which lasts up to 5' minutes: here's what I (try as much as possible to) do during the breaks.

A note: this list is valid for short breaks, while they won't fill longer breaks like a 15' one.
  • 10 pushups: easy, fast, move your arms and legs after a long period on the chair. Or 10 squats, 10 exercises; you get the idea...
  • Refill my water glass from other rooms.
  • Check lighting and temperature to make sure there is no glare on the screen, or the windows do not need adjustment.
  • Adjust the chair and the position of the screen or the keyboard. 
  • Go to the bathroom, also for washing teeth or my face.
  • Unpack my bag.
  • Check phone for urgent messages (only urgent ones).
  • Get up and walk around a bit. Sitting too much tires me.
Here's what I don't do:
  • Engage in mental activity, like explicitly solving problems. Although I find that often since my hands cannot use the keyboard my brain starts to work on autopilot on the last Pomodoro's topic.
  • Browse the web. I try to rest my eyes and focus.

4 comments:

Adam Culp (Crazy Floridian) said...

I agree. I have done this for years, and it works. When I am working it allows me to be much more focused.

Jenko said...

Yeah +1, I've been trying out the pomodoro technique and make sure I adhere to the 20-20-20 rule within the break

multivac said...

I found it difficult to apply when you are doing helpdesk in a small/medium organisation. You never know which emergency is coming out at that moment.

Giorgio said...

multivac, I think the PT works better with the maker's schedule than with the manager-like one. Check out this article for the differences:
http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html

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