

Focus versus Goals : An aspiring mimimalist's dilemma - okal
http://okal.tumblr.com/post/10650651699/focus-versus-goals-an-aspiring-minimalists-dilemma

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kiba
Does anybody knows the efficacy of the pomodoro technique in a scientific
context? It's one thing to proclaim that it help you overcome arisaka, it's
another to have it proven in a rigorous scientific experiment.

Meanwhile, I am sticking to culling useful self improvement advice from self
help books that have scientific grounding(citation, written by
neuroscientist/psychologist, etc).

Also, don't forget to use a spaced repetition system software to learn useful
content like scientific self-help books.

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hugh3
_it's another to have it proven in a rigorous scientific experiment_

Y'know, I don't think there can ever be a rigorous scientific experiment which
will show, definitively, that running a pomodoro timer is more effective than
not running a pomodoro timer, generalizable across all people, times and
situations. But why the hell would you want that anyway?

If you're curious about the pomodoro technique, try it out. Get a timer, sit
down and do some work, take a break. At the end of the day, see whether you've
had an unusually productive day. If you have, then super, try it again
tomorrow! Eventually you might return to normal as the novelty wears off. Or
you won't.

It's pointless to wait for someone to do a fancy-pants study on a thousand
people, when all you really care about is whether it works on you. This isn't
an AIDS vaccine, here -- it's okay to do the science on yourself.

PS. I feel the same way about diets.

