Rocking the Pomodoro

I came across the Pomodoro technique from John Birmingham via Twitter (where I seem to find all of my good ideas these days).

I liked it because it fitted well with a workshop I had just completed about self-sabotage and writing, and how beneficial snack writing could be (as opposed to binge writing).

I duly re-tweeted about this fruity little number on #phdchat, and Thesis Whisperer picked it up.

Then this twitter conversation happened last week, and the Pomodoro playlist was born!

@thesiswhisperer @litreviewhq I like surf instro. I think a pomodoro (25 minute) genius playlist list would be cool too!

— Danya Hodgetts (@danya) June 18, 2012

@thesiswhisperer @litreviewhq You can make a smart playlist in iTunes for the duration of 25 mintues! support.apple.com/kb/HT1801

— Danya Hodgetts (@danya) June 19, 2012

@danya @litreviewhq fab! Just made one in 2 seconds – there’s a lot of madonna in it 🙂

— Dr Inger Mewburn (@thesiswhisperer) June 19, 2012

I don’t like music all of the time when I am writing, but there are some Pomodoros that need every bit of encouragement you can muster.

There are more IT-minded boffins around than me who can show you how to make a playlist, and it’ll depend on your library. I used a Smart Playlist on iTunes.

My only hints are to skip genres that won’t rock you. For me that is comedy, holiday and children (I have wayyy to much Wiggles in my library). I’ve also found that it will err on the side of caution, so I make my list 26 minutes – just to squeeze every drop of tomato-ey goodness out of my time.

What’s your rockin’ Pomodoro got in it?