I finally found the silver bullet to fight FB Twitter Distractions – and is very simple – by following the [Pomodoro technique]. This link has a detailed instruction set – I follow the essence of it and don’t kill myself 😉
I now work in 25 minute sprints, with 5 minute breaks after every sprint. During the time I “work” – I avoid all distractions – no FB, no Twitter, some Email checking – and after my sprint I waste the 5 minutes entirely on Twitter and Facebook. It is like a reward at the end of a nice sprint.
This is quite intense and I feel drained at the end of the day – in a good way – just like how I used to feel after some awesome pairing sessions in ThoughtWorks ( yep – haven’t paired at all after I left ThoughtWorks 3.5 years back )
When I finish each Pomodoro I get this good feeling – “gumption” – if you remember Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig dwells on this – a feeling of accomplishment and it fills you with joy.
I tried Focus Booster – but I keep my Desktop work area pretty light weight and did not like this app sitting on my taskbar/screen. There was one more Pomodoro app I tried but it would automatically start after every break – didn’t like the “pushiness” of it.
I found this nice Android app now I run on my phone – Pomodoroido [http://www.appbrain.com/app/pomodroido/net.artifix.pomodroido.free ]. It has some nice features other than the 25/5 minute monitoring.
Pomodoroido gives a 15 minute break after finishing 4 pomodoros. Also it has levels built in like a game – finish 4 you are a beginner. Finish 15 you are an Amateur etc. Also it will wait till I click on Start – well sometimes I do go beyond the 5 minutes – but whos the boss here?
This post I am writing during my 15 minute break. Times up and resuming my journey to Kickass Productivity in-spite of being active on Twitter and Facebook.
