The Pomodoro Technique

About this book

For many people, time is an enemy. The anxiety triggered by “the ticking clock”, in particularwhen a deadline is involved, leads to ineffective work and study behaviour which in turn elicitsthe tendency to procrastinate. The Pomodoro Technique was created with the aim of using timeas a valuable ally to accomplish what we want to do the way we want to do it, and to empowerus to continually improve our work or study processes. This paper presents the PomodoroTechnique as defined in 1992 by the author, and as taught to individuals since 1998 and toteams since 1999.The Context section delineates the problem linked to time, the goals of the PomodoroTechnique and its basic assumptions. Material and Method describes the Pomodoro Technique,and shows how to apply it by reaching incremental objectives. The Results section provides aseries of observations based on the experience of people who have tried the Technique. TheConclusions section identifies a number of factors that explain how the Technique achieves itsgoals. This document presents a general version of the Pomodoro Technique. The text entitledApplying the Pomodoro Technique in Teams details how the Technique can be used in workgroups.