Show HN: Pomodoro Calendar: custom printable planners for Pomodoro technique | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Pomodoro Calendar: custom printable planners for Pomodoro technique

pomodorocalendar.com

35 pointstulvit29 comments

Any feedback would be appreciated!

*and I just launched it on PH: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/pomodoro-calendar

I think I know the pomodoro technique quite well, but as others have mentioned I am as well at a total loss how I could use this calendar/template to improve my workflow. It seems just a habit tracker and the only Pomodoro specific part is the actual pomodoro symbol used. The link to the Etsy templates shows that most of them track much more than simply the number of pomodoros. In addition, the wikipedia link mentions shorter and longer breaks, so perhaps at least the template should help tracking these? And "calendar" implied to me some daily, weekly or monthly planing, but either I'm missing some options or I can only specify the number of symbols without any timeline/calendar part?

Perhaps, the template would be more useful if you add some hints on the intended use in the lower third?

Yes, you're completely right, it's just a beta/MVP. I was looking for feedback to proceed. And now, thanks to all of you, I have it.

In the end, I want to generate any type of calendar available on Etsy (and over the Internet), not just a blank sheet with a bunch of pomodoros and a background as a premium feature, lol.

Thank you!

I think I know what the pomodoro technique is, but I can't quite figure out what I'd use the print out for? I track the total I've done in a month? The PH description has a good backstory, but I'm still not quite sure what to do with my print out. Maybe this is obvious to those that are pomodoro technique experts?

Shit, I’ve been using the Pomodoro technique for a few years (get up, make some checkboxes representing 25-min units of work you would like to do today, check them as you do it, possibly use a whimsically-shaped kitchen timer to keep myself aware of time passing (the original was shaped like a tomato, hence the name), add other notes/symbols for stuff that took longer than anticipated or that showed up, look over old checklists now and then, repeat) and I have no damn idea how I’d use this. Where do I put task descriptions? Why can I make far more checkboxes than I can use in a day?

Yeah, I know what you mean. Used it in the same manner for some time, but it didn't work for me.

What works for me is separating tasks (in Trello) and time tracking (on paper! DeskTime/RescueTime didn't work for me as well, I've used it for quite a while as well).

And I'm sure I'm not alone (not so sure now, though).

In todo (in trello, huh) there is a task to record a video to describe my approach... I guess I should make it asap!

Thank you for the feedback! It really means a lot.

This kind of planners are quite popular, actually, e.g. on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/search?q=pomodoro%20planner

In a nutshell, I have my personal limit in working hours, at least 100h/per month, and 6h/day for a working day. Each pomodoro is 30 minutes long ("classic" is 25, but I make it 30 so it'll be easy to count).

With this planner I can track my productivity and easily schedule my work, on average it's 6 pomodoros before lunch, and 6 after. I do understand that it's my comfortable limit to do my best, otherwise working hours will not be so productive.

Also, I'm a freelancer, so I have no working days nor weekends. With this planner I can easily manage how much I should work more during this month. Say, in the first 10 days I've filled 50% of pomodoros working hard without a single break. Hooray! I can take a 5-days weekend!

So, yes, it's just the way I use it. And the final goal with this tool is to meet all people needs (i. e. adding more settings, so far I've added only those I've needed).

Thanks for the reply! I've got your point.

How do I boost my productivity by drawing tomatoes on a page?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique You should try it. Chances are, it may work for you as well. This technique really helped me a lot.

What is the Pomodoro technique?

Honestly, I'm at a complete loss about what I would do with the printout.

Thanks, man! Now I see what I did wrong. Considering my personal approach and ignoring actual users needs was a mistake. Luckily, it could be fixed. Lesson learned!

No... It's just a matter of empathy and common sense. You shouldn't need to solicit feedback for someone to tell you they have no idea what the pomodoro technique is.

Common sense is not so common.

But I should admit, I do have problems with it (Ray Dalio's "Principles" and daily meditation helps, though, at least I can see some progress).

Thanks!

Would be cool if you added an FAQ or "What is the Pomodoro Technique" for the uninitiated. Not sure how to use this calendar. But really clean app, it's nice!

Nice point! I've added it to my todo (Trello ^_^). Thank you!

Are you kidding?

Premium? WTF?

Actually, it's free. It's just a way (dumb one, I guess) to motivate people to leave feedback.

I... guess? ... that you're supposed to check off pomodoros as you do a task, and I... guess?!?... that once you've checked off all the pomodoros in your printed calendar, the task is supposed to be done...?...

Is that what you're supposed to do with those tomatoes?

Here's a few pieces of advice:

1. People just aren't that good at estimating their time. 2. You need to use paper for more than just a counter. If I just want a counter, I'll use stones in a bowl. 3. You need a reason why people would want to keep around their printed copies of the number of pomodoros.

Here's how I would change things: Think about helping people get better at estimating the number of pomodoros they took to do an exercise.

The printout should have a date, a description of the task, and an obvious way to count off pomodoros BEYOND THE NUMBER ESTIMATED.

Suggest that people refer back to previous printouts of pomodoros, so they can figure out why tasks are taking longer than estimated. (Tasks never take shorter than estimated.)

That might be useful. But you'll still need to say why it's better to have this printed out, than to have this information on your tablet, hidden behind a password.

>that once you've checked off all the pomodoros ... the task is supposed to be done

Not really. I manage tasks in a todo manager (Trello), pomodoros are just for time tracking (100h+ working hours per month, 6h+ per working day, so it's 200/12 in a 30-minute pomodoros). It really helps to estimate my progress and schedule stuff, planning free days, limiting working hours not to burn out, etc. Or at least it works for me.

Thank you very much for all your points and suggestions, all of them have sense and are helpful! I really do appreciate it.

FYI, I'm not a trademark police, but "Pomodoro" is a registered trademark of Francesco Cirillo http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4810:gia...

"... ELECTRONIC AND MECHANICAL TIMERS FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF TIME FOR USE IN THE FIELD OF TIME MANAGEMENT ..."

Yeah, I really hope that trademark gets revoked, as the phrase has clearly been genericized at this point:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark

Oh, thanks! That way I'll sleep well today :3

To track actual time I use Pomodoro timer for Linux, https://gnomepomodoro.org/ and so far so good ^_^ Thanks for mentioning it (not sure if I'll move to another domain, though.)

If the tomatoes went down the page (vertical) instead of across (horizontal) I could write things next to them, like task descriptions.

I've added it to a todo-list! Thank you!

I love this idea. So much potential. A way you might improve it is include tomorrow's Todo list below the tomatoes? That would also make better use of the paper.

P.S. The price for the PDF may be a touch high. I'd drop it by a buck.

Thank you for the kind words and suggestions!

It's free ("buy" button there is just to motivate people to leave feedback, i. e. on click there is a message "it's free! to download please submit the form"). I'll remove it as it doesn't work (7 submissions per 1.5k visits).

Even a cent will be an overprice for a blank sheet with pomodoro images, I guess. But if I'll be able to ship a really good quality (including downloading multi-page PDF, per-week planners for the whole year, etc.), then charging a buck or two will have some sense.

Thanks!

just curious, are there really customers who really paid for this?

It's free.

On the "buy" button click there is a message to leave feedback/suggestions to download.

I thought it'll be a great idea to motivate people to post their ideas. Counting numbers, it's not: only 7 form submissions for 1.5k visits.

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