I would like to share one good time management technique that is great for programmers and other IT people. It's called the "tomato technique" (variants are the Pomodoro technique, the tomato technique, and so on), and I found it in the book The Programmer's Way.
The author of this book, John Sonmez, has been looking for various techniques to increase productivity for many years, and it was the “tomato technique” that helped him. As Sonmez writes:
If I could recommend just one productivity-boosting habit, it would be the Pomodoro Technique.
However, for this technique to be effective, you need to learn how to use it. Say, the first attempt of Sonmez himself was unsuccessful. He used it for a week, after which he abandoned it for a long time, because he considered it ineffective. What is the Pomodoro Technique? Why is it effective? The answers to these questions are below.
General information
Why is the technique called "the tomato technique"? In the original, the author of this technique used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. Accordingly, the name came from there, as usual, everything ingenious is simple).
The tomato technique was created by a man named Francesco Cirillo in the late 80s, but gained popularity only in the 90s. The technique is so simple (like all ingenious things) that you can initially refuse it, as John Sonmez did.
essence
So, to begin with, you need to plan specificthings you are going to do during the day. Next, set a timer for 25 minutes and concentrate on the first scheduled task. It is important that other tasks and affairs should not distract you. You are fully focused on the current task for the entire 25 minutes. In order for you to succeed, it is better to put your phone on airplane mode, put earplugs in your ears, log out of all social networks, and so on. When the 25 minutes are up, set a timer for 5 minutes and take a break during which you rest. These half hours are considered one "tomato". After every four "pomodoros" there is a mandatory long break - 15 minutes. It is necessary for the brain to recuperate. This is quite logical: imagine that you need to run as far as possible in a day. What technique will help you with this: hard sprinting or running at an average pace with rhythm support? If you finished the task early, then you should spend the remaining time on "learning". So, when it comes to learning to program, re-read the paragraphs of the chapter, experiment with the code, cramming a specific paragraph, and so on and so forth. So you keep working on the problem with small/big improvements, and for us programming students, repetition ismust .
Using the Pomodoro Technique Effectively
Now about how to use this technique correctly. The fact that the technique helps to be concentrated for a long period of time, I think everyone guessed). However, if you just do “pomodoros” throughout the day, and do not count how many tomatoes it took for a particular task, the technique will not give any special results. The true power of "tomatoes" is revealed at the moment when you begin to measure with them all the things that you do during the day. Josh Earl (a friend of the author of the book who revealed to him the true nature of tomatoes) kept track of how many “tomatoes” he managed to make during the day. This revealed the full hidden potential of this technique: you can use it to evaluate the effectiveness of work. If you track the number of tomatoes made per day, plan their number, then you can evaluate your productivity and diligence. I'll give you a specific example. On this resource, the question is very often asked “how long can you take a course/learn Java to the level that you get a job/internship”. A statistically acceptable answer is: “six months, if you practice 4 hours a day.” And now - elementary arithmetic:
4 часа ==8 помидорок //два знака равно это попытка «профессионально» пошутить если что.
Полгода ==183 дня
183*8==1464
Then you just need to count how many "tomatoes" you have already scored. I advise you to do at least 7 "pomatos" a week so that the brain does not begin to overwrite fragile knowledge that we have not addressed for a long time. These "pomodoros" include solving problems, giving lectures, and reading useful links from the professor (at least Russian-speaking 95%). For myself, I decided to round the number of "tomatoes" to 1500, and just gradually fill in the scale 1/1500...100/1500...500/1500 at the end of the day... and so on. Here's how I use this technique when learning Java. By analogy, it can be applied to achieve other goals. If you need to plan for how many “pomodoros” you will reach a goal, spend 4 tomatoes on it, and roughly estimate how many percent have been done during this time. Well, then you just solve the problem for interest - you measure the time to achieve the goal in "tomatoes" =). I hope this approach will help someone :) You can even motivate yourself, for example: for every five tomatoes spent on learning Java, allocate one tomato for entertainment. A fair deal with yourself! A personal life hack for those who are worried about their eyesight: during 5 minutes of rest, you can do your eyes, exercise / massage your closed eyes, look out the window, etc.
Resources for Effectively Applying the Pomodoro Technique
Computer
If you spend a lot of time at your computer, especially with headphones on, the site tomato-timer will be of great help to you .
There are only three tabs on which the timer is already programmed for 25/5/15 minutes, respectively. After the time has elapsed, the timer sounds, everything is extremely simple, and even with a zero level of English there will be no problems)
Initially, I mistook the red alarm clock drawings for images of tomatoes, and now I just don’t perceive them differently. You can make a task for yourself, and set the number of “pomodoros” on it, and thus track your progress. The second application has a shorter name, which makes it more difficult to directly search for it by query. Pomodoro timer for concentration and work
Here are already real images of tomatoes as indicators of progress. Plus, the to-do list here is measured in the usual way - in numbers. Both apps are very cool. Now I use them alternately, and have not yet decided which one will be my final choice. So far, I'm leaning towards the second option. PS: The number of my "tomatoes" at the time of writing the post (after the discovery of this technique): 5/1500
GO TO FULL VERSION