Cris Anzai

Better living through Christ

Tools

Modifying the Pomodoro Technique for Collaborative Efforts

Modifying the Pomodoro Technique for Collaborative Efforts

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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:

  1. Decide on what task you would like to collaborate on.
  2. Set the pomodoro timer to 25 -50 minutes depending on how elaborate the task
  3. Collaborate on the task
  4. End work when the timer rings
  5. Take a minute to talk about what action items you and your collaborator(s) agree upon working on in the next segment
  6. Take a 5 – 10 minute break 
  7. Set  the pomodoro timer to 25 minutes again
  8. Work on individual action items (without distraction – we used headphones as a signal to focus on individual tasks)
  9. Take a 5 – 10 minute break
  10. Repeat steps 1 – 9
  11. 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!

Google Keep: A Powerful Idea Management Tool

Google Keep: A Powerful Idea Management Tool

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I’ve been using google keep daily for the past 4 weeks and I’ve come to use it as an idea management, to do list, and organization tool. It’s particularly helpful for capturing blog ideas and setting up checklists. The cloud based software is very simple to use and it syncs seamlessly with the phone app.

I currently use Keep in 3 different ways. First as a catch all for all of my thoughts and ideas – basically a bank of my thoughts that I know I’ll eventually forget if not captured. Second I use Keep as a goal tracker where I’ll chunk my goals and break them down into checklists so they are more manageable. Third I use Keep as a general checklist and activity tracker.

The Pros

One of the great things about Keep is that you can categorize notes and then reference all of the notes on one page within the category. This includes even notes you have archived.

Another great feature is the ability to color code notes and set reminders for them. For me this is a definite advantage over other apps like one note. I’m a visual person so custom color coding my notes actually helps me organize them better. You can also pin important notes to the very top of Keep and have a selection of notes live in the pinned section.

There’s also a reminders pane to see all of your upcoming reminders on one page. (Basically alarms for your cards for due dates). These reminders can be set to repeat as well if needed (monthly, weekly, yearly, etc…) and sync with your google calendar.

The collaboration feature allows you to share your lists with others and allow you to collaborate with others and is really simple to use.

Also the search feature is killer (I mean of course it is, it’s made by google) and it’s fast. This also links up with google docs and you can send notes directly to google docs.

The Cons

  • While the collaboration tool is simple to use, it isn’t as robust as other collaboration tools such as Trello or Airtable. There’s not a way to notify individual collaborators on changes of the note. Basically you are just sharing the note, and it’s not a “live” note where it’s editable by any one in the collaboration group.
  • The notes that you create are difficult to organize aside from tags or colors. You can move card positions, but the mobile friendly dynamic of the tool always changes the look of your notes based on screen size. (this can get a little annoying – as you may come to expect a note to live somewhere, only to realize you have to scroll further down the page). I may be a little biased as I use Trello on a daily basis for work.
  • If you are looking for gamification, this app is lacking. Not saying that everything should be gamified, but gamification would be a very nice feature if added. Habitica is a good example of an activity tracker with gamification.
  • If you want to track a more complex project, you can’t embed a checklist within a note without the entire note becoming a checklist. And you can’t add multiple checklists to one note – they have to be separate.

Other Features

If you are so inclined, you can even draw or doodle in keep. I don’t usually use this feature, but it’s nice to have in case I want to jot down a diagram or something.

 

You can also add photos to your notes and there’s even a built in feature that will allow you to grab text from photos to put into the note. There’s also an audio record function so you can record audio notes.

 

Overall this is a great  and simple tool. What’s great about it is it’s simplicity and ease of use. What’s also terrible about it is it’s simplicity. I call it my idea warehouse. This is where all of my crazy ideas, plans, goals and random commentary live. What’s also great is I can access it virtually anywhere where I have internet access. Everything’s stored in the cloud and can be accessed from my phone or the google chrome browser on a computer.

You can try out google keep here https://www.google.com/keep/

Thanks for reading!