[mklim]

Term taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique meaning a short period where you're working hard. The basic idea of the technique is that you dedicate 25 minutes to strictly working, and then explicitly give yourself a 5 minute break to do whatever. The idea is if you carve out frequent break time you'll be more efficient and focused than if you're trying to sustain 8 hours of solid focus.

[jacobsenscott]

It's never worked for me. It takes me 15 minutes to get into a flow. Then the timer rings in 10 minutes and breaks it. An hour of solid work before a break might make more sense for programming.

[tootie]

I think there's something to be said for breaking perseveration. I frequently find myself repeating the same wrong solution to a problem, then breaking for the day and solving it in 5 minutes when I start the next day. I don't think a timer is necessarily helpful. Rubber Ducking, pair programming or the venerated technique of asking for help work pretty well too.

[themartorana]

We've found these to be extremely effective. We don't do them all the time but if we feel like we're losing productivity we'll do a few days of them and we're back on track.