The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique vs. time boxing for productivity while making games.

June 23, 2010

2 Min Read

In a previous blog titled Tips for working at home we mentioned Time boxing. Basically, time boxing is where you set aside a specific amount of time to work on a specific task. When that block of time is up you move on to the next block of time and the next task that has been set aside for working on it.

For example, you might set aside an hour to read the RSS feeds you've subscribed to, check out Facebook and Twitter. While that is a good idea before that hour is up you tend to get sidetracked and your mind starts to wander.

Recently we read on Lifehacker about the Pomodoro technique. The Pomodoro technique was created by Francesco Cirillo in 1992, as a personal system to get more studying done. He tweaked it over time and this is what works for him and offers up this technique to anyone else whom may want to use it.

So, you just choose a task to be completed. Then set the Pomodoro (Italian word for tomato) timer for 25 minutes. Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper. Take a short break then move on to the next task. He suggests that after every 4 Pomodoro's you take a longer break.

matomato

We've been using this technique for about a week now while working on our game project, and we both feel that it works much better than time boxing. Like I mentioned earlier in this blog when you do a task for an hour or even longer your mind tends to wander during that time period.

I love the Pomodoro technique because I really feel like I am focused on the one task. I never think of other things I need to do during this time therefore I feel like I get a lot more accomplished. You can download your own tomato timer called matomato here. Also, I discovered a Pomodoro timer for the Chrome toolbar. They call it the Chromodoro and you can download it here.

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