A note: this list is valid for short breaks, while they won't fill longer breaks like a 15' one.
- 10 pushups: easy, fast, move your arms and legs after a long period on the chair. Or 10 squats, 10 exercises; you get the idea...
- Refill my water glass from other rooms.
- Check lighting and temperature to make sure there is no glare on the screen, or the windows do not need adjustment.
- Adjust the chair and the position of the screen or the keyboard.
- Go to the bathroom, also for washing teeth or my face.
- Unpack my bag.
- Check phone for urgent messages (only urgent ones).
- Get up and walk around a bit. Sitting too much tires me.
- Engage in mental activity, like explicitly solving problems. Although I find that often since my hands cannot use the keyboard my brain starts to work on autopilot on the last Pomodoro's topic.
- Browse the web. I try to rest my eyes and focus.
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4 comments:
I agree. I have done this for years, and it works. When I am working it allows me to be much more focused.
Yeah +1, I've been trying out the pomodoro technique and make sure I adhere to the 20-20-20 rule within the break
I found it difficult to apply when you are doing helpdesk in a small/medium organisation. You never know which emergency is coming out at that moment.
multivac, I think the PT works better with the maker's schedule than with the manager-like one. Check out this article for the differences:
http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
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