The Pomodroido : My New Favorite Phone App

I've written about how taking breaks is the best thing since sliced bread - as though I have this productivity booster down pat - but the truth is, I need all the help I can get when it comes to time  management.  My default mode is to work until you can't stand up anymore, then keep going until you finish the project, the kitchen is clean, and you've done two loads of laundry.

So I want to show you a nifty little phone app I heard about this week from someone way smarter than me.  I'm sharing this with you not because I'm gaining anything from it, but because it rocked my world this week.  It's called the Pomodroido.  In case you're not familiar, let me give you a little background about the Pomodoro Technique first.  It's both a technique and a book, written by Francesco Cirillo.  Remember those cute little kitchen timers that look like tomatoes?  When Cirillo developed the Pomodoro Technique, he used a tomato timer, hence the name (Pomodoro means "tomato" in Italian).  The gist is that you alternate work and break cycles, maintaining absolute integrity on both your work and break periods.  One work period plus one break period equals one Pomodoro.  Work when you're supposed to work, break when you're supposed to break, and when executed properly, the technique is a huge productivity and focus booster.  You can click }here{ for more inspiration at the Pomodoro website.

Have I tried this?  Yes.  Does it work?  Yes.  Can I use help, though?  Absolutely.

What in life can't be improved with a nifty phone app?  The Pomodoro Technique is no exception.  Let me tell you a little bit about Pomodroido, and maybe you'll find it helps you with time management and productivity, too.

Essentially, Pomodroido is a timer app.  Being set up expressly for the Pomodoro Technique, it sets you up for a 25 minute work period, counts down how much time is left during the period, sounds the alarm when it's over and asks if you're ready to take a break.  If you're ready for a break, you swipe the phone, the timer sets for a 5 minute break period, and the alarm sounds when the break is over.  If you choose not to take the break and opt to continue working, the timer sets to another 25 minute work period, but your next break will be longer.

The work segments default to 25 minutes and the break periods to 5 minutes, but the times are customizable.  You can also customize the alarm tone, as well as opt (or not) to hear a ticking timer during the work sessions.  That would probably drive some people crazy, but for me, it works like a rebounder for my wandering brain.  When my brain starts to wander and hears the ticking timer, it hustles back to the task at hand (most of the time :o).

In addition to timing your work/break periods, Pomodroido also keeps track of how many Pomodoros you've accomplished in a day and in a week.  If keeping score motivates you, this is a big win.  Kind of like a step counter for work periods.

Using the Pomodroido app helps me stay focused and gives me a greater sense of urgency for completing tasks in a timely manner.  I don't know about you, but I can stretch a task or project into an unseemly length and think I've worked the entire time on the same task, when in reality my work period has been  riddled with  in unsanctioned "breaks" - often they're breaks to do multiple work tasks in other areas, but they lessen my focus and concentration, and of course that's counter productive.   Using the Pomodroido app also helps me keep my perfectionist tendencies in check - do I really need to spend another 25 minutes working on this project, or is it good enough right now?

I'm not a big gadget girl, but this app helped me stay focused and productive this week in a crazy busy week.  If you check out the Pomodroido app (click }here{ to see it at the Google store - it's free), let me know what you think, or if you have another time management app that you love, fill me in!