Sound Writing Practices }{ AcWriMo 2013 }{ Why I Love My Tomato Timers
This is my log for #AcWriMo 2013. You can read my guiding philosophy for the exercise here, and my lofty goals here. Now for some thoughts on the benefits of the Pomodoro Technique.
Why I Love My Tomato Timers
When I first heard about the Pomodoro Technique during last year’s AcWriMo I was instantly fascinated by the tomato. I knew I simply must have a real tomato timer to make the most of it. No stop watches, oven clocks or sand timers. No apps. That guy in Italy found his inspiration in his mother’s kitchen, so I wanted to know what that was all about. And since I had started AcWriMo a bit late, I really wanted one NOW. Couldn’t wait for an online order to ship. But they turned out to be amazingly hard to find.
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I spent many hours during last year’s AcWriMo trying to hunt one down (all logged on the accountability spreadsheet of course). I hit a dozen or so kitchen supply shops in my area. Nobody had one, and a couple told me that they had been recently discontinued. So, I broke down and tried to order an official one, but at that time they were selling on Amazon.com who wouldn’t ship one to Canada – and they weren’t available on the .ca side. Same story with all the generic ones I tried to order too! What’s the deal? I emailed the Pomodoro Technique people to see if I could get one direct from the source, but they would only ship in bulk, and I wasn’t ready to go into the Pomodoro resale business. So I spent the entire month using this online timer – at least it has a picture of a tomato. And in the end I ordered four tomato timers from different sources – including an official one – and had them all sent to a friend in the U.S. where I picked them up in February. And I’ve been using them ever since.
I love them. Why? It’s the urgent combination of the blazing red colour and the steady ticking. I thought the ticking would drive me crazy. But, in fact, it’s the source of the motivation for me. Hearing that sound, coming from those red balls, means there is work to be done. It’s the heartbeat that keeps the work alive until the bell rings. And the bell ringing almost always freaks me out – but that’s essential too.
The Pomodoro Technique addresses two major obstacles with the task of writing: getting started, and letting go. I can spend days trying to get over the hurdle of just starting. What I discovered with the timer is that it really pushes me into just getting the ball rolling. And that’s gold. But then there’s the stopping. When I’m on a roll I have no trouble sitting for hours on end while working. And that generally makes me feel awful. The Pomodoro Technique forces breaks, which really work if done right. Get up from the computer. Walk around. Focus my eyes on something far away for a while. Then get back to work before the momentum is lost. The frequent short breaks do wonders for maintaining productivity throughout the day, while the urgency of the ticking keeps things moving.
Over time, learning how long tasks take – and learning to budget time and make projections accordingly – has been very rewarding. But perhaps the biggest revelation of all was how productive a short block like 25 minutes can be. Although the full technique is based on groups of Pomodoros to really get into a flow, I’ve discovered that I can fit single units into time slots in which I wouldn’t otherwise attempt to get any work done. And so I add little bursts of productive work time to my day, which feels great. Especially important for someone with several small children. I don’t often have hours on end to put together, but 25 minutes of hands-free time is conceivable on a regular basis, and it’s good to know that real substantial work can be done in short amounts of time. Half a job application; a paragraph on my chapter; a conference abstract; etc. It prevents the feeling that some days are total wash-outs on days when I can only get a couple in, and on days that I manage to put some groups together it’s a blast. And so it is without hesitation that I recommend that you all run out and get your tomatoes today.
In: #AcWriMo, Academia, Pomodoro Technique, Writing about Sound