In two previous posts, I have described what I think is necessary to become productive: getting organized and stopping procrastination.

It’s time to wrap it up with a summary. I will also offer a bonus tip that, while it may not be necessary, certainly helps gather the strength and energy to stay productive.

“It’s the job that’s never started that takes the longest to finish.
” Sam said in The Fellowship of the Ring.

I think that summarizes procrastination pretty well, which is the second way towards productivity: stop procrastinating.

In the previous post I wrote about setting up a system to get organized. Being organized doesn’t help much if you procrastinate though.

So, why do people procrastinate?

Communicating is inevitable at work, and good communication skills are key to happiness and success.

Only one thing is more difficult than being good at giving constructive criticism: being good at receiving it.

Being able to say no is not always easy either. Have you ever accepted a deadline or yielded on a time estimate although you know it’s impossible?

Here are three techniques/mnemonic rules that can help you communicate more efficiently.

The final article in the series about the Pomodoro Technique® and Scrum covers objective VI: Other Possible Objectives which, I admit, is a bit fuzzy.

One goal of Scrum is to continuously improve. This is formalized in the sprint retrospective. Identifying and implementing potential improvements is part of the agenda, and second nature to agile practitioners.

This post is about the Pomodoro Technique® objective V: Set up a timetable. Instead of writing about how setting up a timetable and respecting work hours helps you keep a sustainable pace and uphold productivity (curiously enough a key XP practice as well :-)), I will focus on the similarities between objective V and a Scrum Sprint.

I think it's striking how well the fifth Pomodoro objective correspond to the essence of iterative development and Sprints.

Having started with the Pomodoro Technique® and seen how it can help you focus by cutting down on interruptions and improve estimations, it is now time to get the most out of each Pomodoro: Make the Pomodoro More Effective.

A big part of making the Pomodoro more effective is to think about how you structure and apply Pomodoros. It can also involve introducing dedicated Pomodoros for specific subtasks, and splitting work into meaningful subtasks.

This is the third post in a series about applying the Pomodoro Technique® to Scrum and for development.

Each post covers one of the Pomodoro Technique® objectives. The third objective is to Estimate the Effort for Activities.

All developers are used to giving estimates. Most developers are also aware of the problems related to giving accurate estimates. Especially, providing an estimate in calendar time can prove difficult, not to say impossible. Pomodoros offer an alternative approach that works very well with Scrum.

This is the second post in a series about applying the Pomodoro Technique® to Scrum and for development.

Each post covers one of the Pomodoro Technique® objectives. The second objective is to cut down on interruptions.

The Pomodoro Technique® talks about internal and external interruptions. I immediately noticed a change in how I dealt with internal interruptions. It is more difficult to decrease the number of external interruptions. I have, however, noticed a change here as well, which I will mention shortly.

This is the first post in a series about applying the Pomodoro Technique® to Scrum and for development.

Each post covers one of the Pomodoro Technique® objectives. The first objective is to find out how much effort an activity requires.

I started using the Pomodoro Technique® a couple of weeks ago. At first simply trying to work focused for 25 minutes with 5 minute breaks. I didn’t do this all the time, though, as I didn’t feel my working environment allowed it.

Today, I primarily use the Pomodoros when developing. When I get a chance, I will definitely apply it to other tasks as well, such as writing and studying.