In my professional life/time (I'm a teacher) I like to make time to think about how to present topics to students, and how to respond to their responses.
To do that, I have to manage the crap (management inspired paperwork that does not actually impact on teaching/learning/reflecting) and routine but very important tasks like marking work. I use a Pomodoro timer (actually a cheap one I got locally) to stay focussed on the mechanical things. I do actually record the number of pomodoros I spend on crap, and I feed that back when things get out of hand.
Students who don't like Maths much also find a kitchen timer helps them to focus, so I break homework up into 'pomodoros' of each topic. Strangely, they find the more pomodoros they do, the easier it all gets.
In non-pomodoro time, I do things like reflect on what kind of activity works, make screencasts, quizzes and games, and make new ways of linking topics (e.g. areas and perimeters of rectangles and simple factors and multiples).
Outside of work I too like taking things slowly! The turn of the year always makes me think about time passing.
I actually agree. I was really into productivity a while ago but I realised quickly that most important of all, I need to enjoy myself while working. Pomodoro allows me to do so while having a good focus, but I know that I cannot go as far as the author or I will simply become crazy.
