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Scheduling “Pomodorely” with RTM

mcaneted says:
Hi everyone!

For most of my tasks, especially the more laborious ones, I use the Pomodoro technique to get the stuff done. If you haven’t heard of it, basically consists of a time frame of 25 minutes concentrating on one task and take a short break (about 5 minutes). That’s one Pomodoro. Then repeat. Once you finish your fourth Pomodoro, you take a longer break (about 30 minutes), and begin from the start.

With this in mind, I recently started to plan my day “Pomodorely”.

This is how I do it:

First I start by setting my goal number of Pomodori (in proper Italian) for the day. You can do that by subtracting from your total working hours your recurring tasks, meetings, lunch, and all the other “non Pomodorely” tasks/events you have for that particular day. It’s a good practice to leave a margin for possible unexpected events that can happen during the day.

Second, I tag my tasks with the number of Pomodori I expect it would take me to complete it. I work with the range from # 0,5p (I cheat the system) up to # 4p. If it takes more than that, it means I have to split the tasks into more manageable units. I have found that a single task with more than 4 Pomodori can get demotivating and at the end unproductive.

Third, engage! It will boost your productivity and make your dense tasks easier and more fun.

And that’s it!

Hope you find it useful.
Posted at 7:55pm on January 21, 2018
raymond.bergmark Power Poster says:
Great idea, bet you'll be a Tuesday Tips&Trix winner soon!
Posted 6 years ago
analuisapesce says:
Great idea! I will try to plan my day Pomodorely too. Thanks!
Posted 6 years ago
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Hi mcaneted,

Awesome tip! The Pomodoro Technique is really helpful. You're this week's Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner, and we've added a free year of Pro to your Remember The Milk account. :)
Posted 5 years ago
patch_uk says:
I’m glad I found this.

Awesome idea.
Posted 5 years ago
jszmak says:
Cool! I'm gunna give it a try. Sounds interesting indeed. Have you created a Smart List to assist with this?
Posted 5 years ago
(closed account) says:
yes! great idea, just what I needed!
Posted 3 years ago
nancy.harrison says:
wow -- this is great. I hadn't realized I was manually Pomodoro'ing using old business cards with task written on the back. Shuffle, draw, repeat! :-)
Posted 3 years ago
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