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The Pomodoro Technique Fights Deadline Anxiety with a Timer

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The PomodoroTechnique
Fights Deadline Anxiety
with a Timer
We've known for some time that setting a
timer and working in dashes can get help
procrastinators jump past thoseimposing
first steps. The Pomodoro Technique takes
that further, offering a cyclical system
aimed to beat deadline-related anxiety.
Francesco Cirillo craftedthe Pomodoro
Technique in 1992, as a personal system to
get more studying done. He tweaked it a bit
and now offers a book, available as a free
PDF download or as atraditional bound
purchase, that explains it a bit further.
Cirillo, however, doesn't bury the basic strategy in his book, but offers it up freely:

…

1.Choose a task to be accomplished
2. Set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes (the Pomodoro is the timer)
3. Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on yoursheet of paper
4. Take a short break (5 minutes is OK)
5. Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break

As you might imagine, that basic algorithm
gets refined andexplained a bit more in the
book, and at the web site. Want to try it out,
but lack a cute tomato-shaped timer? The
free Focus Booster App is a Pomodorocenteredtimer app, available as a free
webapp or Adobe Air download, to help you
time and manage your own "Pomodoros."

…

Been a fan of Cirillo's technique for some
timealready? Got your own similar
dash-centered system? Tell us about it in
the comments.
The Pomodoro Technique [via Web Worker Daily]

3/12/2012 1:23 PM