As I'm beginning to feel a little stuck writing this blog-entry, I get a strong desire to check the news and see what happened in the world since I last checked 30 minutes ago. And I think I also need a fresh cup of coffee. I can imagine myself go down into the kitchen, boil water and add instant coffee to the mug, pour hot water over and add a little milk - heavenly! But instead of following my desires, I take a  look at the small ticking tomato-shaped timer in front of me, and I notice that I still have 15 minutes left to go. I put a mark on a piece of paper on my table, and turn my attention back to my blog-entry with a desire to keep going for the next fifteen minutes. I know very well that the desire to get a cup of coffee or check the news, are just a few of my procrastionation demons. They have haunted me for most of my life, but I now have found the ultimate weapon in the form of a small red tomato-shaped timer.

It was more accident than anything else, that led me to attend Staffan Nöteberg's talk about the pomodoro technique at this years agile conference in Toronto. This accident changed my life, and after that also the lives of my colleagues. Much would have been different had I known it 25 years ago.

The technique was invented by an, at that time, young italian student Francesco Cirillo, who was not too pleased with his own ability to study concentrated. As an experiment he borrowed his mothers kitchen timer, and tried to stay focused for 25 minutes. He did not succed immediately, but gradually developed the technicue to deal with internal and external interruptions. He developed a set of simple artefacts and  planning and improvement tools. As the technique matured, it was shaped to be used by others than just individuals. Also pair-workers and teams can have great benefit of the technique.

Curious? Check the links or attend my presentation in Copenhagen on Thursday  March 5th at 5pm - read more and register here.



By Bent Jensen