Tomatoro: Pomodoro made easy

The last side project I was working on is Tomatoro.

At the office, I’m always thinking of how to make my work easier, how to be more productive and how to reduce distractions. One day, I found the pomodoro technique. I tried it with doubt: how working short time cycles might make me more productive?

Well, it did.

I tried with that technique for a week. I finished my daily duties in less than 4 hrs instead of 6 or 8.

How does Tomatoro work?

For each 25 mins of work or Tomatoros, take a 5 mins break. After completing 3 Tomatoros, take a longer 15 mins break. Repeat this cycle!

Perhaps the beginning is hard, the result worth the effort. You need to change how you work, because you need to focus on your task during 25 min. Some people start to “get in the zone” after 15-20 minutes. Taking a break after reaching that point sounds like a waste of time. But it is not. After the second or third cycle, you can concentrate on what matters more easily than before.

The main point of pomodoro technique is to have little breaks, so you might relax your mind and your eyes. It is important to avoid looking at your screen or your mobile device, because the stress in your eyes will quickly tire you. Get away from your work station and get fresh air, a coffee or go to the restroom, whatever you need.

Other cool thing about Tomatoro is that you can count how many working cycles you have done. If you write down that number, you can compare your daily results to figure out how much effort is taking a task or activity.

If you are interested on trying it, you can start right now using this link: Tomatoro. This project is open source, you can read the code and support it filling bugs you enconter or helping me to add new functionality!

Web page: https://tomatoro.com
Github: https://github.com/tonymtz/tomatoro