Time Management, an ugly phrase that we all know just doesn’t apply to us, right?  But what about when you’re buried in some complicated ETL, trying to design a new killer dimensional model or wrapping your head around how to implement a Kimball bridge table.  You get a bit stuck and then your mind wanders, you check your email, send an IM, chat to your co-workers, think about getting a coffee etc etc.  If you really never do that then stop reading now (but why are you reading this?).

Thought so.  You need The Pomodoro Technique.

Like all good things, this one is founded on a really simple concept.  Just focus on something, above all other activity, for just 25 minutes.  Then have a 5 minute break.  That’s a pomodoro.  Then repeat x 4, then have a longer break.

Try it. It’s surprisingly difficult for a lot of people, it seems that we tend to operate in an environment with a lot of interruption and distraction.  Francesco Cirillo worked this all out at university in the 1980’s and came up with a method of improving concentration and motivation which seems to have gained a huge following just recently.  I’m interested because it sits well with Agile and Scrum and BI/DW development (time-boxing and and the productive work/play dynamic).  If you read all the documentation you’ll be doing better than me but Cirillo would appear to have seriously researched this stuff.

The ‘internal interruptions’ are the thing that I probably suffer from most - it is actually quite comical when you think about it.  Why all of a sudden, at a particular moment you just have to look something up on the Internet, or make a phone call, or send a text message?

The solution to this procrastination issue, and one of the main benefits of Scrum are the same.  Make the issue transparent.  Just as you would identify and mark an impediment or a newly-emerged requirement as a backlog item in Scrum, so you highlight the existence of the interruption or the pressing need using the Pomodoro Technique.  I think the underlying message is the same - we operate in a dynamic environment so lets recognise and accept that but not let that unduly influence our progress or our short-term plans and goals.  Just as a Scrum sprint is short, so is a Pomodoro.  Lots of short iterations = higher chance of successful delivery which in turn increases satisfaction, motivation and belief.

We do actually have one of those pomodoro kitchen timers in the office now.  Its pretty noisy but probably preferable to an electronic screen-based timer in terms of impact and gained respect.  If you just can’t stand the idea, or can’t find anywhere to buy one (try eBay) then you can download all kinds of timers online, some specifically aimed at this technique, but give it a go, you might be surprised what you discover.