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Now that I have a smart watch, I don't think I'll be trying the pomodoro technique again. What I wanted from it the most was help to take breaks but now my watc

Now that I have a smart watch, I don't think I'll be trying the pomodoro technique again. What I wanted from it the most was help to take breaks but now my watch reminds me to move around. It stopped the antipattern of sitting in my chair for hours and feeling drained. I can still use help with productivity but instead of four pomodoros I can just look for productivity tools that will help me get ready for work sessions. If I was going to try to do 2 sets of pomodoros I can instead just do 2 sets of 2 hour work sessions. Edit: I joined Pomochat to try it out and I think chatting with strangers is probably about the worst thing to be doing on a Pomodoro Technique break. It should be done during the 25 minutes (but not every 25 minutes unless your job is to poke around in chat rooms), not on the break which ought to be used for stretching/relaxing both physically and mentally. I'm typing this during the Pomodoro but will just close the window after typing this.

thih9 4y ago
There are also low tech solutions that provide periodic distractions, such as pets, kids, or other time sensitive responsibilities. I’m speaking from experience, i.e. my smart watch no longer has to remind me to take a break.
- hackerfromthefu 4y ago
  I like to fill up a big glass with water. When the glass is empty I get up to get more. Exercise, a break, and a good water clean!
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  > low tech solutions that provide periodic distractions, such as pets, kids, or other time sensitive responsibilities The problem with those is that the frequency and randomness of the distractions makes is that the very possibility of being distracted by them prevents me from doing any work at all[0]. Unless I structure my environment to isolate myself from such distractions for extended periods of time, certain types of work (including all software work) just don't happen. -- [0] - Like, why I'm up and on HN at 3AM now? Because my little one woke up and can't decide if she's going back to sleep or not; in case of the latter, I need to react quickly, or else she'll wake up her older sister and we can all kiss rest of the night goodbye.
anotherevan 4y ago
I have an ultrasonic distance sensor sitting on top of my monitor that notes when I'm in front of the computer or not[1]. Not mentioned in the blog article is that I also run a shell script that keeps track of how long I've been in front of the computer and nudges me to take a break after 45 minutes. [1] https://www.michevan.id.au/posts/are-you-there/ https://www.michevan.id.au/posts/are-you-there/

thih9 4y ago

There are also low tech solutions that provide periodic distractions, such as pets, kids, or other time sensitive responsibilities. I’m speaking from experience, i.e. my smart watch no longer has to remind me to take a break.

hackerfromthefu 4y ago
I like to fill up a big glass with water. When the glass is empty I get up to get more. Exercise, a break, and a good water clean!
TeMPOraL 4y ago
> low tech solutions that provide periodic distractions, such as pets, kids, or other time sensitive responsibilities The problem with those is that the frequency and randomness of the distractions makes is that the very possibility of being distracted by them prevents me from doing any work at all[0]. Unless I structure my environment to isolate myself from such distractions for extended periods of time, certain types of work (including all software work) just don't happen. -- [0] - Like, why I'm up and on HN at 3AM now? Because my little one woke up and can't decide if she's going back to sleep or not; in case of the latter, I need to react quickly, or else she'll wake up her older sister and we can all kiss rest of the night goodbye.

anotherevan 4y ago

I have an ultrasonic distance sensor sitting on top of my monitor that notes when I'm in front of the computer or not[1]. Not mentioned in the blog article is that I also run a shell script that keeps track of how long I've been in front of the computer and nudges me to take a break after 45 minutes. [1] https://www.michevan.id.au/posts/are-you-there/ https://www.michevan.id.au/posts/are-you-there/