For people who’ve tried the Pomodoro (decide on task, set timer, work on for length of timer, take break) but haven’t stuck with it because their BorgBrain adapted: I have two tweaks that make it work flawlessly for me, one from Kourosh Dini and one from Complice.

He doesn’t call it this, but Kourosh Dini’s approach to the Pomodoro is revolutionary in its simplicity, but it makes all the difference, especially if you’re interested in non-coercive methods of encouraging your best work. We’ll call it the Non-Coercive Pomodoro.

The Non-Coercive Pomodoro goes like this: Rather than “I MUST work on (or worse, finish) this task during this pomodoro” … it’s “I CAN work on this task I’ve decided is important to me during this pomodoro OR I can sit in silence and do nothing.”

This Non-Coercive/Non-Drill Sergeant approach to the pomodoro opens a secret door to flow. In the traditional method, there’s an internal battle, C’MON DO THE THING, and the part of you that is a good judge of character is like HOW ABOUT YOU SUCK I’M GONNA GO CHECK MY EMAIL.

In the Non-Coercive Pomodoro, you are allowed, in fact encouraged, to sit in silence. For the full length of the timer. Or do the task. There’s nothing to rebel against, no mean Drill Sergeant to hide from. And the best part is that silence is often exactly what your task needs.

The Non-Coercive Pomodoro builds an awareness practice into work, because when you’re not busy digging a spur into your ribs or numbing the sting with diminishing dopamine hits, your surroundings and internal voices become really vivid (“turning up the gain” per Michael Ashcroft).

The other Pomodoro tweak is the Communal Pomodoro: Doing pomodoros with a partner. Both friends and strangers have advantages and disadvantages here, by the way. Best off-the-shelf virtual ways to do this are with Complice or Focusmate.