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That $30 timer app that finally stopped me from overworking
I kept losing whole afternoons to 'just one more task' until I tried a Pomodoro timer with strict breaks, and it cut my burnout days from twice a week to zero. Has anyone else found a tool that actually forces you to stop working at a reasonable hour?
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the_robin12d ago
Pomodoro is actually 25 minutes of work, not 30.
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sam_cooper12d ago
Keep using that physical timer. The sound is a hard stop you can't ignore. @jesse_smith10's point about the trick being simple and effective is spot on. 25 or 30, the real difference is that cheap timer and actually walking to another room. I set mine for 20 minutes sometimes, just depends on the task. Make the break a real break, that's the whole thing.
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wyattramirez12d ago
Got a cheap kitchen timer from the dollar store, set it for 45 minutes and forced myself to stop when it went off (no hitting snooze). The physical sound is way harder to ignore than a phone notification, especially when I'm deep in a project. I pair it with a rule that I have to stand up and walk to another room during the break, which kills the temptation to "just finish this one thing." Been doing it for about three months now and I actually leave work at a normal hour, which feels weird but good. The key for me was making the break feel like a real stop, not just a pause.
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