The Pomdoro technique of time management has moved on a little from the tomato-shaped kitchen timer which gave it a name, as [Rukenshia] shows us with this nifty ESP32 and e-paper design. It’s relatively simple in hardware terms, being a collection of off-the-shelf modules in a 3D printed case, but the software has a custom interface for the friend it was built for.
At its heart is a NodeMCU board and a Waveshare display module, with a rotary encoder and addressable LED as further interface components. A lot of attention has been paid to the different options for the interface, and to make the front end displayed on the screen as friendly and useful as possible. Power comes via USB-C, something that should be available in most working environments here in 2025.
We’ve tried a variant on this technique for a while now with varying success, maybe because a mobile phone doesn’t make for as good a timer as a dedicated piece of hardware such as this. Perhaps we should follow this example. If we did, the Hackaday timer couldn’t possibly use an ESP32.
There’s an “o” missing there Jenny – it should be “Pomodoro”… :-)
How about not living a life of an industrial cow being milked on schedule, eating on schedule and sleeping on schedule. A good project manager is a 🤩🥰😃🤩 project manager. End the salvery now.
Have you tried Pomodoro? It’s not about maximizing productivity; it’s about ensuring you take breaks working head-down to exhaustion.
I’ve used pomodoro (modified to do 10 or 12 minute breaks) as I’ve been working at home, and it leaves me feeling much less consumed by work and more balanced in my use of time.
Ugh. Take breaks instead of working to exhaustion.
Consider this the billionth request for editing functionality on comments.
You see, it is the taking breaks that eventually maximises productivity ;)
When I’m deep focused on a task I don’t want any stupid interruptions (including those daily SCUM meetings at 9 AM, noon and 3 PM which are de facto sect-like stuff where we apologize before our PM for not working ourselves to death again).
When I’m doing light-duty tasks which are interruptible I don’t need timer to switch between work, tea time, bathroom break and eye relief break. And if my productivity isn’t 120% of the ever-increasing norm… who cares? Humans are not electric motors rated at S1 duty.
ok, it sounds like pomodoro timers wouldn’t be a useful tool for you then – no one is saying they work for everyone! however, i and many others find them very helpful – as someone who has ADHD it helps keep me motivated and helps me get started on tasks. it’s not about reaching maximum productivity for me, it’s about having any semblance of productivity at all
If you don’t have ADHD, it is a very difficult situation to empathise with or understand. It isn’t always about “maximising productivity”. For many people with ADHD, techniques like Pomodoro timers are the only way they can ever get even the smallest about of work done.
You can remove all possible sources of distraction, put me in a room with nothing but pen & paper, ask me to write my name and my address, and I will still find something that distracts me. The distraction isn’t from my environment, the tools I’m using, or interruptions from other people; the distraction is coming from my brain. It’s constantly leaping from one thing to the next. It’s like switching between a dozen different browser tabs at utterly random intervals – and usually one of them is playing music but you have absolutely no idea which one or how to make it shut the hell up.
Techniques like Pomodoro are just one tool at our disposal, and like any other tool it isn’t always the right one. Some people swear by it; some people find it makes no difference; some people initially swear by it but eventually find that it stops working for them.
I don’t blame you if this is not something you’ve ever considered or thought about. I can’t get my head around how people who don’t have ADHD can just… do stuff… without first berating themselves for minutes, hours, or days, because they know they should be doing the thing and they… just… aren’t.
Pomodoro timers do tend to work well for me, but right now I can use either: a webpage, a phone app, or a dedicated application. The webpage needs a browser, where I can very easily access a vast array of distracting content. The phone app needs my phone, with all its notifications just tempting me to look at them. A dedicated application doesn’t work in a restricted corporate environment where you don’t have the luxury of running unapproved applications. So a dedicated device like this, which does one thing and one thing only, is ideal for me. Which is why I’m designing one.
+1 — did my bachelor thesis (yeah when volcanos erupted on moon) applying the pomodoro technique and it was almost unreal what I got accomplished. I could really focus because I knew the break was just 45min away.
I highly recommend trying and do then assessment afterwards rather than putting it off because: your ego.
Down with salvery! Yeah!
Pomodoro …
Timers can be helpful for those living with ADHD, but the complexity of this is a bit much for me personally, I am more ‘try to do just two minutes’ timer user. Still it’s an interesting idea and looks like a well thought out build with a nice UX.
Yea, I’d want to update the UI for a mich more immediately visual representation of the passing of time. The timetimer(https://www.timetimer.com) does a great job for that concept(despite being massively over priced “sharktank-y” ‘product’).
I’ve been intending to make a diy version with a red/black e-ink display.
Pom/o/doro :)