PomodoroHow to estimate tasks in pomodoros
Most plans fail because the tasks take longer than we hoped. Counting rounds teaches you how long your own work really takes.
Two lists
The method uses two simple lists. The first is a master list: everything you have to do, large and small, added whenever it comes to mind. It can be long and untidy. The second is today's list: the few tasks chosen from the master list this morning, the ones you intend to work on today. Printable versions of both are on the printable sheets page, and the task list under the timer can serve as today's list.
How to estimate
Each morning, pick the tasks for today and write next to each your guess of the pomodoros it needs. Three guidelines keep estimates sensible:
- More than about five to seven rounds? Split it. A task that large is really several tasks. "Write lab record" becomes "write aim and theory", "draw diagrams", "write observations and result".
- Less than one round? Group it. Put small jobs together until they fill a round: "reply to three emails, pay phone bill, print admit card".
- Then count the total. If today's list adds up to more rounds than the day can hold, remove tasks now, in the morning, by choice. Otherwise the day will remove them for you in the evening, by accident.
Record what really happened
As you work, mark every completed round next to its task. When a task is done, you have two numbers side by side: estimated 3, actual 5. Do not be upset by the gap. Write it down. At the end of the day, look at all the pairs.
Learn from the difference
After a week or two, patterns appear, and they differ from person to person:
- Many people find that writing tasks take about twice their estimate.
- Routine tasks are often estimated well.
- Tasks that depend on someone else, or on finding information, run over the most.
- Unplanned tasks arrive every day; note them as they come, and after a few weeks you will know how many rounds a day to keep free for them.
Now adjust. If your writing estimates are always half the real count, double them. If two rounds a day go to unplanned work, plan for two fewer. Your plans start to come true, which is rarer and more satisfying than it sounds.
A worked example
Anjali, a B.Com student, lists Monday's tasks: journal entries practice (estimate 2), economics chapter reading (3), assignment draft (2), small jobs (1). Total 8. By night her marks show: journal entries 2, economics 4, assignment 4, small jobs 1. Total 11, and she finished late. On Tuesday she plans the next assignment at 4 instead of 2 and removes one task from the list. Tuesday ends on time. Nothing about her ability changed; only her estimate did.
What a pomodoro count is good for
Once you know that a chapter takes six rounds and a weekly report takes four, you can answer real questions. Can I finish the syllabus by the 20th? Can I accept this extra piece of work? How many chapters fit in the holidays? The exam study plan and weekly planning pages use these counts as their raw material.
Keep it light
Estimating should take five minutes in the morning and two at night. If the record-keeping grows into a project of its own, cut it back to the essentials: task, estimate, marks. The record serves the work, not the other way round.
Questions people ask
What if my estimates are always wrong?
That is normal at first. Keep recording estimate and actual. Within two weeks you will see by how much you are usually out, and you can correct for it.
Should the estimate include breaks?
No. Count rounds of work only. When you turn the count into clock time, add the breaks: four rounds of 25 minutes with breaks take about two hours and ten minutes.
How many tasks should be on today's list?
As many as fit the rounds you can really do today, and usually no more than five or six. A short list finished feels very different from a long list abandoned.
More guides
An independent site. The method described here was created by Francesco Cirillo, and Pomodoro Technique is his registered trademark. This site is not connected with him or his company. The timer is free, needs no login and keeps your settings and counts only in your own browser.