Return of the Pomodoro

I’m not exactly sure what happened, but somewhere along the line I fell off the Pomodoro cart. Today, it was back onto it, and my intentionality and productivity showed noticeable improvement. Here’s what I learned through my Pomodoro hiatus.

First, I tried to do the Pomodoro technique without actually doing it. And it didn’t work. For example, I would work in Pomodoros (25-minute periods without interruption), but I would not work in purposeful Pomodoros that had been carefully and thoughtfully planned at the beginning of the day. This allowed for too much randomness in my day, as well as not considering how much time each task would take. Yes, it gave me uninterrupted periods of time to work, study, and write, but it also was not directed like it should be.

Many times I just skipped the Pomodoro altogether, and worked without thinking through segments. This allowed for too many interruptions. I began to notice, especially over the past two weeks, that it didn’t take a whole lot to get me completely off task. The other tasks were not necessarily unimportant or unnecessary, but interruptions reduce efficiency if not handled properly.

Sometimes these two issues compounded into what I like to call the “I’ll get to it later” syndrome. The only problem is that “later” never comes until it is crunch time, and then it’s full-blown, mind-numbing, blood-pressure-raising stress mode to finish. I try to avoid these results of procrastination at all costs, but when the “I’ll get to it later” syndrome infects the day, it’s almost unavoidable.

As a last thought, I don’t want it to sound like I am completely unable to be productive without a timer and daily plan. I still got things done, and, I think, produced quality work in reasonable time frames. That being said, tasks that screamed at me got my attention, and other tasks more easily fell to the wayside or were neglected. Without the Pomodoro mechanism, I find it easier to fall victim to the tyranny of the urgent rather than to plan ahead and be pro-active so that the number of things that are urgent are minimized to only those things which truly are urgent. Life happens, especially in pastoral ministry, and the daily plan sometimes goes out the window when an emergency hospital visit has to be made or a hurting member of the congregation comes in for some prayer and encouragement. These truly urgent things do require immediate attention, and they deserve to have a pastor who is able to focus without distraction on the immediate need, knowing that his other tasks are written down and won’t be forgotten or neglected when he returns to them.

Pomodoro Saves the Day!

With all the last minute details of closing our new house, there are a lot of mental and other distractions vying for my attention. Today, Pomodoro came to the rescue and turned what previously might have been an unproductive day filled with jumping from task to task and dealing with distraction after distraction into a rather fruitful day. Here’s how it worked out so well.

First, I planned out the day. I also front-loaded into my to-do list most of my administrative tasks, like phone calls, emails, organizing various items in my office, etc. into the first part of my day. Over the past few weeks, I’ve found it helpful to deal with these kinds of tasks early so they are not weighing on my mind when I’m trying to focus on studying, reading, writing, or other tasks that require extended focus and concentration. I’m also usually surprised by how many little things I have to catch up on, especially after an extended weekend. It’s easy to forget various emails that need a reply, phone messages, forms to be completed, etc., but with a time of day specifically devoted to these tasks, I get them accomplished with a minimal amount of things slipping through the cracks. It also helps me recognize which items are urgent and which ones can wait until a break or the evening.

Then, it was time for study. I’m coming up to a particularly challenging section of Scripture in my preaching schedule this month, and I knew that on this holiday-shortened week, I would actually need extra preparation time. I have an exegetical guide I use to guide my study times, so I broke down my tasks into completing the steps in the guide. One step took longer than I anticipated, which meant one step I had hoped to accomplish today did not get completed. That will require either some time working on it this evening or an early start tomorrow.

Finally, interruptions were all handled. Important things that needed to be done but did not need to be done immediately were listed and accomplished within 25 minutes of being reminded of them. Nothing I thought of throughout the day was forgotten because each item got listed on the to do list and during a break or later, during another Pomodoro, got completed.

It was simply amazing today how much I was able to accomplish in spite of all the mental distractions due to all that I have to do with the new house. Those distractions were almost completely eliminated during my work time. Pomodoro saved a day that might otherwise have been about half as productive.

Pomodoro, Week 2, Days 1 and 2

Week 2 of Pomodoro is going strong. Here are my observations of the first two days of week 2:

1. A few days out of routine has led to regression in internal interruptions. Monday, especially, I noticed a significant increase in internal interruptions from the previous week’s final couple days. The increase can be attributed to be out of routine, but we are also in the final stages of closing on a house this week, so I have more on my mind than normal. Concentrating is that much more difficult.

2. My stress level while working on tasks has decreased this week. In the midst of tasks, the pressure to complete them seems to weigh on me much less. Interestingly, this has not led to a decrease in productivity. In fact, it seems like my mind is clearer and more productive without the constant pressure of needing to meet a deadline.

3. Another thing that makes #2 intriguing is that I began predicting how many pomodoros each task will take. I would have thought these predictions would increase the anxiety level as I try to hit the time targets. I have noticed the exact opposite. I feel very comfortable working within the pomodoro, and the fact that I am being productive has lessened the pressure a great deal.

4. Predictions have been fairly accurate. I have missed the projected time to completion on two activities this week. One was missed badly because I did not anticipate a preliminary task that would need to be completed. The other was missed by one pomodoro (it took six pomodoros rather than five). I attribute that mistake to dealing with a longer task that was more difficult to project. I think as I repeat this task regularly and measure the time it takes, my predictions will become more accurate.

I still find myself very excited about the pomodoro technique as I see tangible results day in and day out. I told my wife tonight that in two days of using pomodoro on one project, I accomplished more than I did in an entire week of concentrated time without any system in place. I’m looking forward to seeing those gains increase as I refine my workflows and my understanding of the tasks necessary to complete given projects.

Pomodoro, Week 1 in Review

One week of Pomodoro is in the books (or, in the Excel tracking spreadsheet, as it were). A few observations after a week:

1. Internal interruptions have almost completely been eliminated. I’m not sure whether to attribute this to my tasks being fully engaging or to an increase in self-discipline, or some combination of the two. Either way, being mentally focused and clear for an entire 25-minute period without my mind wandering into other things I need to do is liberating.

2. I need to do a better job of getting the last Pomodoro of the day completed, which includes daily recording and evaluation. Most days I have had to take some time in the evening to do the recording, which is not ideal since I am a little bit removed from the tasks and challenges of the day by that point.

3. I have had greater success in remembering to accomplish everything I need to get done. When I was younger and life was simpler, remembering my tasks was pretty easy. All too often, though, as life has become more complex, tasks went unfinished or I simply forgot to do them until the last minute. Over the past week I have not had that experience. Just taking 25 minutes each day to think through my tasks, prioritizing for the day/week, and keeping a running list of what needs to be done as new tasks come up has been immensely helpful in preventing important items from slipping through the cracks.

4. I need a real kitchen timer. The free iPhone app has worked ok, but I think a physical timer would be better in some cases.

Over the weekend I won’t be using the Pomodoro technique as much as my schedule changes from it’s Monday-Thursday routine, so I’ll probably write a post reflecting on the Pomodoro and Pastoral Ministry after a week.