Of all the time management strategies that I apply on the daily is the pomodora technique. I think ive mentioned it in my other note articles on this blog but it really is a cornerstone of my daily routine. Well that is until a meeting happens. So this is more of a quick article on how to continue using a pomodora even with some or many meetings.
Yes, you've given up, the meeting is more important than your special little technique. Its a strategy that ive used, but unfortuantly, I forget. I forget to start up the timer again after my meetings have completed. So for me this is just a non starter.
Does your pomodora have a bell? Welp, then if you do the 25/5 strategy I use, you are going to hear about it at least once throughout the meeting. Which is fine, its another reason to keep those zoom microphones silenced. But its also just better practice to modify the timer to something like 60/15. Which, you'll notice doesn't work great if you have a cluster of meetings back to back. However, this brings up the larger problem of meetings
Who the fuck said, in this remote world, that meeting after meeting needs to start right on the hour. Its rediculas. I was in a cluster of meetings last week and I couldnt believe how odd it was to virtually hussle from room to room. I don't even remember it being this bad when I was working hybrid or in the office full time. Just feels like people expect you at the meeting regardless of what meetings you've been to previously. End tirade
Ok, so a little off track today. What I was trying to suggest at the end of things is that if you want to try and use a pomodora while also listening in meetings, just set it up to hourly and use five minutes after a meeting to condense notes or go to the bathroom. Use those five minutes for you and the next meeting be damned. I don't know if thats popular or born from my own inate privledge or maybe its a weird thing to be an animal forced to sit in place and listen to other animals endlessly. I don't know, but I do know that once the meetings end and its back to solving a problem.
Pomodoras do a great job of reminding me to take a break. Blink. Do a pushup and then get back into flow.
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updated: 12 November 2023.