When I raised my first round I worked from home most of the time and time boxing was the key. Writing down one or some goals and trying to achieve them in a given period of time.
For me 19 minutes works the best. It doesn't feel like too much ('19 minutes won't kill me') and still you can move mountains in 19 minutes. I don't do breaks inbetween them, I just make like 3-6 in a row and the some break.
Because none of the tools were really perfect I wrote my own, very lean and a not configurable tool:
- 19 minutes fixed
- a crisp & clear ticking sound (WebKit only)
- browser-based, just enter url and the thing starts without the need to press any further button; the page title shows the running time