GTD & Pomodoro: Making it Work

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December 7th, 2009 · by Cory · Productivity, Tips
GTD & Pomodoro: Making it Work

Although I have been using GTD for awhile now, I have only recently discovered the productivity system known as Pomodoro. Pomodoro is a system for dividing up the time you normally work to be more productive. you do work in 25 minute blocks. Between these blocks you take 5 minute breaks. Although to be honest I don’t follow Pomodoro entirely (specifically about working on one thing until it is done), it does fit together quite nicely with my already existing GTD system. I assume that if you are reading this you already have some working knowledge of GTD, and an idea of Pomodoro. If not, there are plenty of resources that can teach you both. This article is going to teach how I integrate them to increase my productivity.

The only time that the Pomodoro system really comes into play while utilizing GTD is during the “Do” step. When you go to sit down to do your work, instead of doing it in an unorganized fashion, use Pomodoro to break up and organize your work time. Normally in GTD, everything is organized except for the actual “Do” step. Although we are given contexts in deciding what work to do, we are not told if we should take breaks, how long to work for, etc. Pomodoro helps with this.
For the simplified version of the pomodoro system that I use, all you need is a timer or some sort (I prefer a kitchen timer, or try tomatoi.st), and a sheet of paper. First, look at your list of next actions and pick four that you want to work on. Write them on a sheet of paper. Set the timer for 25 minutes, pick one, and start working. When the timer goes off, put a tally mark next to your action, and take a 5 minute break. Now heres where my system differs from Pomodoro. In the Pomodoro system, you would normally resume here with the task you were working on for another 25 minutes. In my system, you resume here with any of the four tasks on your sheet. I find that sometimes working on something new keeps my creative energy flowing. After 4 Pomodoros, take a 30 minute break.
That’s it, that’s all there is to my system. This keeps me at least somewhat productive and prevents me from dazing off or spending my hours reading blogs and checking my email. (Sometimes this works even better if you unplug, by the way).

The only time that the Pomodoro system really comes into play while utilizing GTD is during the “Do” step. When you go to sit down to do your work, instead of doing it in an unorganized fashion, use Pomodoro to break up and organize your work time. Normally in GTD, everything is organized except for the actual “Do” step. Although we are given contexts in deciding what work to do, we are not told if we should take breaks, how long to work for, etc. Pomodoro helps with this.

For the simplified version of the pomodoro system that I use, all you need is a timer or some sort (I prefer a kitchen timer, or try tomatoi.st), and a sheet of paper. First, look at your list of next actions and pick four that you want to work on. Write them on a sheet of paper. Set the timer for 25 minutes, pick one, and start working. When the timer goes off, put a tally mark next to your action, and take a 5 minute break. Now heres where my system differs from Pomodoro. In the Pomodoro system, you would normally resume here with the task you were working on for another 25 minutes. In my system, you resume here with any of the four tasks on your sheet. I find that sometimes working on something new keeps my creative energy flowing. After 4 Pomodoros, take a 30 minute break.

That’s it, that’s all there is to my system. This keeps me at least somewhat productive and prevents me from dazing off or spending my hours reading blogs and checking my email. (Sometimes this works even better if you unplug, by the way).

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