Posted by geemiz | Posted in Geemiz Thoughts | Posted on 23-10-2013
Tags: Francesco Cirillo
Author: Francesco Cirillo
There are people who would say that working home base is a good thing and I say yes it is. Aside from you got to just stay at home and avoid the hassle of traffic and any bad weather conditions, you can work and bond with your family at the same time. But what people do not know is that most working at home individual are struggling with their productivity for so many reasons. Like work and family time are mixed up, people tend to slack because they feel that they have lots of time to do a certain task, there are many temptations at home like TV and chatting with family members and of course no office mate will bug you if you do not do a certain task. Believe me these are true because I work at home.
Having many work backlogs is so depressing and not healthy until boyfie who also works at home suggested to use the Pomodoro Technique to improve productivity in my work.
Pomodoro Rules
1. A Pomodoro Consists of 25 minutes work Plus a Five-Minute Break.
2. After Every Four Pomodoros Comes a 15-30 Minute Break.
3. The Pomodoro Is Indivisible. There are no half or quarter Pomodoros.
4. If a Pomodoro Begins, It Has to Ring:
5. If a Pomodoro is interrupted definitively – i.e. the interruption isn’t handled – it’s considered void, never begun, and it can’t be recorded.
6. If an activity is completed once a Pomodoro has already begun, continue reviewing the same activity until the Pomodoro rings.
7. Protect the Pomodoro. Inform effectively, negotiate quickly to reschedule the interruption, call back the person who interrupted you as agreed.
8. If It Lasts More Than 5-7 Pomodoros, Break It Down. Complex activities should be divided into several activities.
9. If It Lasts Less Than One Pomodoro, Add It Up. Simple tasks can be combined.
10. Results Are Achieved Pomodoro after Pomodoro.
11. The Next Pomodoro Will Go Better.
Glossary of Terms
Pomodoro – Kitchen timer used to measure 25-minute intervals. The name of the Technique comes from the first timer used which was shaped like a tomato (pomodoro in Italian).
Time-boxing – With this technique, once a series of activities has been assigned to a given time interval, the delivery date for these activities should never change. If necessary, the unfinished activities can be reassigned to the following time interval.
Qualitative estimation error – This error occurs when all the activities needed to reach a certain goal haven’t been identified.
Quantitative estimation error – This error occurs when the estimation of a single activity (or set of activities) is higher (overestimation) or lower (underestimation) than the actual effort.
Lesson learned
1. The very first thing to do before working is listing down all the important things to do.
2. Since I already know the time estimate of certain task I assign Pomodoro sets to each task. For new task I start from recording the number of Pomodoro’s I spent on a task.
3. Separate work time from family time.
4. Never slack off, finish all task first before doing other things.
5. I am blessed to be working at home so take good care of my job by increasing productivity as well as quality in my job.
6. Give out all the best in everything that I do and do better than expected.
Note: Photo from http://cdn01.asianefficiency.com
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