First Timers

Try single player mode, to see the flow. Timing is fast, and the work is intense. Be ready. A successful pomodoro starts with a goal in mind that can be concisely articulated.

Veterans

You're ready to pomodoro with someone else. Respect their time, and show interest in their work. Click this button when you have your goal in mind and are ready to get working. Traffic is relatively low. A good strategy is to click on this page in idle mode to wait for someone else to join. You can use single player in another tab simultaneously.

Friend in Mind

You have a friend in mind that you want to work with. This button puts you in the same pomodoro room.

Tips

Good goals are concrete, incremental, and attainable. These could include:

• Read and highlight 5 pages of my economics textbook.
• Draft a complaint for my new client filing a personal injury claim.
• Extract stock cost basis and sale prices for one client for their tax return.
• Identify and research three graphic design agencies that I will send my resume to.
• Write the CSS on my website to match a photoshop mockup.

Goals that are more likely to fail include those that involve working with others or are too open ended. Some examples include:

• Make three sales calls.
• Track down this software bug.
• Brainstorm marketing ideas.

Issues that might come up:

• Blocking questions. Sometimes you need a piece of information from a co-worker to continue on your task. Write them an email with a concise formulation of the question, but do not send it until the end of the working session. We don't want to be interrupted by a reply. Continue working until the end.
• In person interruptions. If your boss walks over to your desk to ask you for something, help as you normally would. Consider informing others of your new working style in the future to maximize your pomodoros.