Knowledge Dump: Pomodoros

I stopped using pomodoros for flow-work, because it would break my flow state. I've found roughly 2 hour chunks work better for flow, without any particular warning to stop me if I feel like going longer. If I am in flow, I want it to keep going as long as possible, until I am fatigued, or the problem is solved.

CGP Grey follows a cycle that repeats -> (40 min work - 7 min break - 40 min work - 20 min break). I think he mentions it in here somewhere but I don't know the exact time. It seems probable that the most appropriate length and cycle for an individual should be based on their attention span and recovery.

I used to view pomodoro timers as good for production type work but not for creative, in the zone work. This model served me well. There have been a few surprises. I had assumed that studying was creative work and therefore would not benefit from a timer. Barbara Oakley's Coursera course "Learning how to Learn" recommends the use of a pomodoro for studying. Both the coursera course and her book "A Mind For Numbers" goes into why this is the case.

Actually the LW Study Hall uses 32-8.

I much prefer to use pomodoros in continuous mode (auto renew after 5 min break).

When I use a computer, I find it useful to have my screen automatically block for 5 minutes after every 30 minutes, and I use some cognitive tricks to feel grateful instead of annoyed when it happens.

Here's a Linux system tray pomodoro script that I made: https://github.com/guciek/linuxutils/blob/master/genmon-pomodoro