When Matthew says he has trouble managing his time, he is specific about the problem: he does not set boundaries. Once he sits down with a problem, he does not want to get up until it is done. If the solution is not obvious, he keeps going until he understands what is happening.
At work, the boundaries are easier to see. We estimate, decompose work, and agree on what done means. In our conversation on Reflective Practice Radio, we ask why those same practices do not follow us into our personal projects and the rest of our lives.
We talk about the Pomodoro practice, a 25-minute time block, and why stopping when the timer goes off is part of the work. The conversation also moves into learning, AI, leisure, and the goals behind the things we choose to do.
Personal projects need boundaries, too
Matthew has been applying Pomodoro at work and on his side projects. A focused period ends with a hard cutoff and a real break. That means stepping away from the problem, not using the break to keep turning it over in your head.
We are used to applying Scrum practices in professional settings: break work down, estimate it, make the definition of done visible. In the episode, I connect that to a deliberate-practice exercise at Improving, where we choose one task that can fit into a 25-minute block and schedule it on the calendar.
This question connects to things I have written about before. In The Trinity of Productivity, I describe work, health, hobbies, relationships, and rest as parts of one life, and talk about keeping a personal backlog for a talk. In A Personal Scrum for My Own Work, I write about making my own work visible through clarity, retention, and accountability. This conversation extends that practice to a smaller unit: one task, one focused block, and a deliberate stop.
A 25-minute block gives us a clear choice about the work and the time we are giving it. Some tasks need more than one block. The calendar entry makes that boundary visible instead of letting a task expand until we are exhausted.
The timer gives us information
If a task takes ten minutes instead of the 25 we estimated, that is useful. Maybe we already had the skills and tools we needed. Maybe we learned something between estimating the work and starting it. Either way, we can record what happened and use it the next time we estimate similar work.
The opposite is useful, too. If the timer goes off and the work is nowhere near done, we have learned that our estimate was off. We may need another block, or we may need to adjust what we thought the task included.
That reflection is easy to skip. We finish, switch off the timer, and move on. But the estimate and the result are information. Paying attention to them can help us make better decisions about the next block, the next task, and how much time we actually need.
Plan how to come back
Matthew compares the time block to a scuba tank. Neither of us is a scuba diver, but the image works: when the tank runs out, we cannot decide to stay underwater because we are almost done. We have to plan the return to the surface before we run out of air.
The same goes for a timer. When the block ends, we stop, even if another five minutes might finish the task. If we are coming back to it, we can leave ourselves a note about where we stopped. In my sprint note template, I use a “next” line for this same reason: I write down where I stopped and what I need to do next before switching away. If the next thing on the calendar is unrelated, that breadcrumb helps me return without reconstructing my thinking.
That small note is a practical way to respect the boundary without abandoning the work. It gives us a place to pick up from, and it makes the break a break.
Separate learning from doing
We talk about the difference between motion and action. If I am going to swim across a lake, I can spend days reading about swimming. Some preparation is useful, but reading alone does not get me into the water.
Preparation matters, but I can time-box the research and ask what I need to know before I try. Sometimes I need to make exploration the task itself: figure out how to do the thing. Naming that exploration makes it easier to decide how much time to spend on it and when to take the next step.
That distinction also applies when we use AI. A tool might finish a task, but we still have to ask what it cost and what we learned. If we spend most of a limited budget trying to solve a small part of the problem, we may not have enough left for the rest. Choosing a better strategy can matter more than throwing more effort at the problem.
Make room for a life outside the task
Time boundaries are also a way to make room for rest. Matthew talks about how working until everything is done leaves him exhausted. If he does not make time for the things he wants to do, like gaming, those interests can start creeping into his work instead.
We also talk about being clear about what we need from an activity. Sometimes I want to play a game and let my mind rest from problem-solving. Sometimes I want to pick up my guitar and play without trying to make anything substantial. At other times, I want to work on a creative problem. Those are different needs, and I can give each one a deliberate block of time.
I share how I stopped maintaining my Duolingo streak after more than eight years in Ending my 3,000-day Duolingo streak. I had to ask whether I was still doing it for the learning or for the streak and competition. I did not need to keep the app on my phone just because the habit had lasted so long. I could put that time toward something else.
Choose what you are optimizing for
The conversation keeps returning to the question of what we are trying to get from our time. A tool can be convenient and still be unnecessary for us. A habit can be familiar and no longer serve the reason we started it. More output is not automatically better if the cost is that we are tired, distracted, or working against the life we say we want.
Matthew’s scuba-tank analogy is a good reminder for me. Before I start, I need to know what I am trying to do, how much time I have, and how I will leave the work in a state I can return to. The timer is part of the work. It gives me a boundary that lets me keep doing it.
In the full episode, Matthew and I follow these ideas from work blocks to leisure and the habits we choose to keep. I left the conversation wanting to pay closer attention to whether my time reflects what I say I want from it.
This blog is not affiliated with, associated with, or endorsed by the Pomodoro Technique® or Francesco Cirillo.
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