The daily tomato: How to maintain focus and kick ass on multiple projects
ryanwaggoner.com
ryanwaggoner.com
I found that taking one afternoon a week (usually Tuesdays for some reason), removing all distractions and simply thinking about my big picture goals and what I need to do to get there solves a number of issues - including maintaining focus on multiple projects.
This gives me time to step back and think about the big picture. I don't often get caught up in the small stuff anymore and giving myself time to step out of the day-to-day race lets me see things a little more clearly.
Usually, what happens is that I find myself pushing back the "multiple projects" that don't contribute to my larger goals. At the same time, I've noticed that I can see where smaller projects should combine and will eventually work alongside my big lofty plans to take over the world.
It's a simple thing, but stepping back regularly for an afternoon once a week is one of the most productive things I do and one of the best ways I have to maintain focus in my own personal flurry of activity.
I like it so much, I'm building Pomodoro Planner (http://www.pomodoroplanner.com), a task-management tool based on the Pomodoro Technique. It's still in a limited beta phase, but it's become a tool I personally use every day.
If you want to take part in the beta, you can sign up here: http://app.pomodoroplanner.com/accounts/register/.
The difficulty I'm having with your app is after my pomodoro finishes, you have the clock ticking upward and it doesn't stop. I need it to either stop counting up after 5 minutes and/or turn red, otherwise I totally forget to start another pomodoro, since I'm not always that good at taking breaks or I want to finish up one line of code before going on break and am liable to forget. But maybe I'm just a Pomodoro noob. =)
The reasoning right now is that some people might want longer than a 5 minute break, but still want to keep their eye on how long a break they've taken. We could add a sound effect at the 5 minute mark but keep the count going.
In any case, thanks for your feedback and thanks for trying the app out! I'm glad you found it of value!
On a side note, does it make sense to implement a custom timer for the Pomodoro / Breaks?!
experimental: send a text or call to set a timer when you aren't near a computer
http://rubygems.org/gems/pomodoro https://github.com/steveklabnik/pomodoro/
Basically, it builds off of the noprocrast gem (metioned here: http://rfw.posterous.com/33144299 ) to toggle your sites in conjunction with the timer.
It's still a bit rough around the edges, but somebody may find it useful...