Get your Pomodoro Focus on!
If you are like me and have a thousand millions things to work on and lack focus. This little app will help you out. Its called Focus Booster: http://www.focusboosterapp.com/
It is a very simple focus timer that sits on your desktop and helps you do Pomodoro times. If you are not aware of the Pomodoro Technique, it is a technique to help you focus on tasks.
The Pomodoro Technique™ is a way to get the most out of time management. Turn time into a valuable ally to accomplish what we want to do and chart continuous improvement in the way we do it.
They offer their book free in PDF format or you can order their full Pomodoro Kit. I recommend you guys take a look at it.
The basic unit of work in the Pomodoro Technique™ can be split in five simple steps:
- Choose a task to be accomplished
- Set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes (the Pomodoro is the timer)
- Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper
- Take a short break (5 minutes is OK)
- Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break
Hal Helms
I've found the Pomodoro technique to be invaluable, too, Luis!
Dave Shuck
I have been using this app since June or so and there is a remarkable difference in productivity on days I use it versus days I don't.
Close email, turn off tweetdeck, turn off phone, crank up tunes, start timer == success!
Mark Drew
I have tried a number of Pomodoro specific tools, but what I find is that they don't do "everything"
so my main tools are a todo.txt file, in which I put the date: my todosfor the day and then when I start I add entries like:
POM [clientx] doing the thing for task1
Now, I then use an OS X timer, called Timer Utility, which has a 25 min countdown timer, at the end of which, it opens my todo.txt file (thus it becomes my front screen) . I enter my POM, then automatically it starts a 5 minute countdown timer for me to check email and do whatever.
It doesn't end there though, if I am naughty and forget to reset it, it starts another stopwatch, showing how much time I be wasting.
You can also use http://www.todopomdone.com too or if you want to really force yourself, http://10k.aneventapart.com/Uploads/77/
Rick O
As an exercise to learn how to build jQuery AIR apps, I built a Pomodoro timer:
http://rickosborne.org/blog/index.php/2009/04/15/the-pomodoro-technique/
It's not as slick as this one, but it has the benefit of not showing seconds.