Last week I wrote about the Pomodoro technique and the advantages and disadvantages of using it to maximize productivity. One of the disadvantages I noted was that this technique wasn’t that great for collaborating. Well with some modification I think you can definitely make this technique work in a collaborative environment. Here’s how I modified the technique:
- Decide on what task you would like to collaborate on.
- Set the pomodoro timer to 25 -50 minutes depending on how elaborate the task
- Collaborate on the task
- End work when the timer rings
- Take a minute to talk about what action items you and your collaborator(s) agree upon working on in the next segment
- Take a 5 – 10 minute break
- Set the pomodoro timer to 25 minutes again
- Work on individual action items (without distraction – we used headphones as a signal to focus on individual tasks)
- Take a 5 – 10 minute break
- Repeat steps 1 – 9
- After 2 cycles, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), then repeat the cycle.
I met with a friend for a meeting on some side projects and scheduled an 8 hour block of time to complete all of our agenda items during the meeting, but by using the modified pomodoro technique we cut that time in half. (It may have just been a coincidence though, results may vary!). I plan on using this same technique on our next session and other collaborative efforts to see if it pans out, but I have to say the first time use results were quite dramatic.
The collaboration portion gave us enough time to bounce ideas off of each other, and the 25 minute “quiet” time after the collaboration session, allowed us to take action on some of the most important tasks. Because we worked off of an agenda that was prepared well ahead of time, it was easy to transition from session to session.
The agenda helped stave off wasted time and the 25 minutes of work with the 5 – 10 minute break was just enough time to get things done without having felt burned out. The 15 – 30 minute break after the two cycles was a great way to chill and have some fellowship time. I’ll keep you posted about how future collaboration efforts work and if any modifications would need to be made if you’re collaborating with more than one person.
The key here is that all parties must agree to applying the technique during the meeting, if not then it will just turn into a standard regular old meeting.
Thanks for reading!