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Matt_Simpson comments on Group rationality diary, 10/1/12 - Less Wrong Discussion
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I tried using pomodoros for the first time over the weekend. They've been on my to-try list since minicamp, but I never got around to it. The trivial inconvenience of not having a timer seemed to be the biggest cause. On Saturday, I needed to work on some homework that was due today, but I was feeling tired and unmotivated. So I decided to procrastinate by looking for a web-based pomodoro app I could try (here).
Holy crap did it work. Normally when I'm sitting at my computer working on a vaguely difficult problem, like e.g. interpreting some equation (I often write up HW in latex), I quickly find myself on the internet reading mostly useless information. Suddenly I had a Schelling point - every time I tried to click over to Chrome, I just told myself "not in the middle of a pomodoro, wait 10 more minutes and you'll have a break" and that was usually enough.
I didn't strictly abide by the break / work times - often taking a bit longer on my break or my pomodoro in order to finish whatever I was doing, but I don't think that mattered. I also didn't keep track of my "score," e.g. how many pomodoros I'd completed, but it didn't seem important while I doing it, but I'm going to try it out to see if I notice any effect.
Be sure to report back in 6 or 12 months whether Pomodoro still works...
I've been doing them since July minicamp, and they still work well for me. (I've set a beeminder to make sure I work in a certain number of pomodoro chunks per day)
Or for that matter, whether I manage to keep on doing it.
It had a classic placebo effect for me: seems to work initially, then slowly fades. I stopped using it after a month or so.
I found that they worked well early, but have mostly lost their power. I think I might try them again, but tweak the length of the work and break cycles - maybe longer cycles of both. The problem for me is finding something to do that works in 5 minute chunks that's both relaxing (not work) and energizing (gives you the ability to work more), but isn't so compelling that you take an extra long break to keep doing your break activity.
I find that, even if I mostly ignore them, I still work more and better with Pomodoros. But my baseline level of work is pretty bad.
I use Pomodroido on my Android phone. The breaks help keep everything fresh. Thanks for the link.
I recently took up pomodoros myself. As for sticking with it and keeping it effective, I'm pairing it with Beeminder
Sometimes, it works really well for me, other times it doesn't. Which is kind of my base-line, so my results are "not enough data yet" I guess. I intend to try it for a while longer.
Suggestion: if slacking off while you intendet to work is a problem for you (like it is for me), keep the pomodoro checklist in a google doc, share it with a few people, and record any slacking-off you do.
Data point: Pomodoro did not work for me.