and a bit there. hardly peace and tranquility, but definitely a useful tool to use when i’m procrastinating wildly. 2 years ago

Will someone throw a rotten tomato at me as I retire this goal? 2 years ago

I need to make some lists.
Isn’t 43 things my list?
Well let’s see how many we can get done. 2 years ago

I can set a timer on my phone – so Pomodoros on the move are possible!

Might fit in 3 or 4 this afternoon now. 2 years ago

nix mit peace, tranquility, and achievement. i can’t even set a fecking timer today. i’m using an online thing, and first pimped it to my needs (trumpeting when i’m finished, always starting at 25 minutes)—and it somehow got stuck at 25 mins in that it counted down from 25 to 24 repeatedly. took me a while to notice that.

now i’ve just seen i’ve set it for 25 hours! gah! probably about the time that these fecking texts will take unless i speed the feck up! argh! gah!

jah! 3 years ago

But of course it should be Pomodori:)

I have also read a bot more about the technique, and tomorrow I will tackle it differently. Frustration has occurred here due to me dividing the day into 30 min pomodori, and then assigning tasks to them. Apparently that is the wrong way around.

• list the tasks in priority order
• log each pomodoro next to the task
• if it gets interrupted then it doesn’t count and you start a new one
• list interruptions (or new tasks arising) on the list.
• Log when you have an internal interruption
• review at the end of the dya how it went, and make the next one better.

Tomorrow it looks like it will be a quiet day, so not so likely to get interrupted. I’ll see if I can work it better. 3 years ago

and now i’ve been farting around for at least 15 mins. my breaks are always easily as long as my pomodoros. hmm. right, next up: invoices pomodoro. just as soon as i’ve changed my avatar.

invoices: BW, LP, CP, SK, SD, DD extravaganza, CT, KK

what happened: OK, got BW and CP (was a bit complicated) done in first tomato. then had break and forgot to put timer back on until had finished CP. but now follows a second tomato, and then i’m going out.

what happened next: no i’m not (going out), it’s pissing it down. only 2 to go, but the DD will take ages, and i can’t remember was KK was… 3 years ago

is an evil black pyramid rather than a cuddly red tomato. it’s a bit off-putting. tant pis, here goes an office-tidying pomodoro (soundtrack: greatest hits of duran duran).

edit: pick things up only once!

look now, look all around
there’s no sound of worms
i dug a hole last night
a great bit hole 3 years ago

while marking this week. And in the 5 min break am using one of the Just A Minute meditations to help me feel more peaceful and tranquil.

I was wondering if I could prepare a Pomodoro playlist on iTunes with 25 mins of stirring ‘music while you work’ interspersed with 5 mins calm music and meditation.

Hmmm…might have a go at that when I have more time. 3 years ago

so I’m trying it today as well

have made this funny template with columns for things to be done with pomodoro and things to do in the little breaks (3-5’) and in the longer breaks (20-30’).

Funnily, the most difficult thing is really to stop. Stop and wait. Like Boice said. Must learn when to stop writing, when “more” gets only “worse and worse”. The point of diminishing returns, ah!

I am ashamed to admit it, but I adore to obey to the ticking timer and to the ring that signals to stop, that really quiets my mind. Sort of like the Ullrey podcasts do. I like to be given rules and orders and not having to think. This feels disheartening somehow: I must keep under check this inner attitude of mine to alienate thinking in favour of rules, obedience and peace of mind, it’s the germ of every totalitarian system. 3 years ago

me too

I’d never heard before of this funny pomodoro
but was conquered when I discovered that I already had the pomodoro timer and it was watching me on the desk while I was reading about the technique

have a feeling that this might even be the way towards that other goal of mine: “upgrade to superhero”, because what’s a superhero, if not somebody conquering peace, pace and achievement?

ok, so I give it a go on this weekend 3 years ago

as a way to keep focussed on my big tasks every day 3 years ago

The pomodoro (Italian for “tomato”) is an indivisible unit of time equal to 25 minutes. It is also an apparently popular design for a kitchen timer.

The idea is to work in pomodoros with five-minute breaks until a task is complete. Since I have ADD to the max,it is hard for me to spend more than one pomodoro on a single task. However, I have found the pomodoro a useful work unit. This weekend, I did a few cleaning pomodoros, a correspondence pomodoro, and so on. Twenty-five minutes is a reasonable unit of time to work on something. It’s enough to get a significant amount of work done. I still have most of the book to read, so I am sure to gain further insights as I go.

One of the best things about this technique is that the book and worksheets are downloadable and free at www.pomodorotechnique.com/ 3 years ago