The amount of stimuli we have in everyday life makes concentrating more and more difficult, which is why productivity techniques are becoming more and more popular. On this occasion we will recommend Linux applications for the Flowtime technique.
Since Frederick Winslow Taylor began his studies on productivity, it has been known that alternating periods of work and rest is the best way to be productive.
Work, rest and productivity
Taylor must be one of the most unfairly infamous people, thanks in part to the Chaplin movie. She earned the hatred of the left for suggesting that employers and workers could benefit each other by collaborating, and of capitalists for asserting that to have productive workers you had to pay good wages. But, her legacy continues alive in the new generations that from time to time rediscover her principles.
The best known technique based on Taylor's work and rest principles is the Pomodoro technique. It basically consists of working in 3 periods of 25 minutes separated by 3 5-minute breaks to end with a last period of 25 minutes and a longer break of 15 minutes. The cycle is repeated as many times as necessary until the task is completed.
The Pomodoro technique is great for tasks that are monotonous or that you don't feel like doing at all. But, If you do tasks that require great concentration such as writing this article, solving math problems or working in a team, it can be completely impractical. That is why alternatives were emerging.
Linux applications for the Flowtime technique
The Flowtime technique adapts to the concentration capacity of each one of us, which is why it requires self-analysis work to start using it. It is about determining what your maximum concentration time is and how much rest you need to be able to reach it again.
the procedure is the next
- choose a task have a clear ending.
- record the time in which you start working.
- When you start to have difficulty doing the task, write down the hour and take a break. Use a stopwatch that records time.
- When you want to go back to work, write down the time you rested and the start time of the new period.
- If there is an interruption, indicate it in the log and continue with the task.
Some practitioners of the technique established formulas that, although not mandatory, serve as a guide to determine work and rest periods.
- Up to 25 minutes of work take 5 minutes of rest.
- Between 25 and 50 minutes of work, 8 minutes of rest are taken.
- Between 50 and 90 minutes of work, 10 minutes of rest are taken.
- After 90 minutes of work, 15 minutes of rest are taken.
Others prefer to determine rest times by dividing work time by the same arbitrary number. Thus, for example, if we establish that rest takes up a fifth of the work time, we would have the following:
- 60 minutes of work and 12 of rest.
- 90 minutes of work and 18 of rest.
To implement the technique on Linux you can use the following applications
- For the time table you can use LibreOffice Calc or create a table in LibreOffice Writer, print to PDF and complete it with Xournal++. LibreOffice is in the repositories, Xournal++ in the Flatpack store.
- To measure times KDE offers timer while GNOME Clocks (Repositories) not only includes a stopwatch and an alarm but also a countdown timer.
- There an app designed as a timer for the technique that bears the unoriginal name of Flowtime. You simply have to get to work after indicating how much to divide the work time and when you finish the rest time will start to run. An alarm will tell you when to get to work. This program also keeps statistics about your performance.
- superproductivity it's a program which I have already recommended for the Pomodoro technique. It's not just a timer, it also allows you to manage your task list and share it with the versions for other platforms. You just need to set the work and rest times on the timer.