Pomodoro joy

This little dude is saving my arse. One of the downsides of the home-officing, freelancing work situation is that procrastinationary time is not paid for. If I want to be paid for an hour, I have to work that hour, and I have to do so in an environment that offers all manner of distractions: housework, the internet, bookshelves in every room, a garden, a valley to run down, a kitchen and a coffeepot, and a heating system that relies on old-fashioned wood-lugging and match-striking.But this, my friends, is a pomodoro (tomato timer, more prosaically) and it's both cute and an ingenious time management device. Basically, you set the timer for 25 minutes, work those 25 minutes without distraction, then take a 5-minute break, then set it for another 25 minutes. After four rounds, you get a longer break — perhaps half an hour or so. You can find online apps that count down the time for you, but I like the ticking, bright red, kitschy version.This is only my second day on pomodoro time, so I've yet to fully master the 5-minute break, ahem right now, but I find the 25 minutes very manageable, especially if I stick some music on as well. It's also worked for monitoring the kids' screen time and keeping track of kitchen timing.And on a day of worry and tiredness and scattered thoughts, I'm glad of a bit of simple, shiny, useful good cheer.