Every designer-developer can have hard times on concentrating to the projects they are working on. Sometimes, it is the project which is not exciting anymore or, sometimes, it is the beautiful weather outside.
I have (recently) met a popular method named "The Pomodoro Technique" that helps me work much more effectively since then. Let;'s hear about it from Wikipedia:
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that uses a timer to break down periods of work into 25-minute intervals called 'pomodori' separated by breaks. Closely related to concepts such as timeboxing and iterative and incremental development used in software design, it is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility.
To sum up, it helps focusing on a task for a given time, taking breaks and performing this process regularly.
If you need a better concentration to complete that client website or the-next-killer-web-app you are working on, I suggest giving the technique a try.
Here are 5 free Pomodoro technique apps for an easy start:
Focus Booster is an app with 2 versions: desktop (Adobe AIR) and web-based.
It has an elegant interface and comes with few settings like changing the session/break length or enable/disable sounds.
An Adobe AIR application that combines to-do-lists with the Pomodoro Technique.
Tasks can be defined, re-ordered with drag 'n' drops and any of them can be selected to start working on.
It keeps the logs for future analysis and there is a Twitter integration (which is experimental for now).
The application is fixed to counting 25 minutes on a single session and has a very nice logging feature that displays hourly + daily pomodoris completed with their explanations (entered by the user).
Tomatoist is a free web-based application that is very easy to work with by simply clicking to the few actions provided.
It can be reached from a custom URL, the application displays the past actions and also exists as an application on the Chrome Web Store.
A portable application that doesn't require any installation and keeps the logs of tasks being worked on.
If you want to read more about the Pomodoro Technique, there is a free e-book and cheat sheet on the subject.
P.S. This article is also written with the technique using few Pomodoris : ).
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Screenfly is a free-to-use web application that can display any website on different device screens and resolutions.
It uses a proxy server to mimic devices and supports the most-used ones under tablet and mobile categories.
Also, TV and desktop categories helps viewing websites according to the selected screen-sizes of the devices.
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A new database software has been added to the Free / Open Source Non-SQL (NoSQL) Database Servers and Engines page. This one is an open source, document-oriented database that supports scalable, replicable databases for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris. (For those wondering what I'm talking about, please see What is SQL? What is a database?)
Antialiaser is a free application that eases OpenType and TrueType font visualization and customization for using them inside Flex and AIR projects.
Using the application, it is possible to use any font, fine tune them and get the generated CSS.
Its interface shows the system + embedded fonts, standard + zoom view and has various options like activating transparent background, comparisons and snapshots.
Advanced and beginner Flex developers will probably both find the application useful for a better typography in their projects.
Antialiser comes with versions for for Windows and Mac OS X.
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Kivy is an open source library for creating applications that work in multiple platforms using the same source code.
The library focuses on innovative user interfaces, like multi-touch apps, and can natively use most inputs protocols + devices like WM_Touch, WM_Pen, Mac OS X Trackpad and Magic Mouse, Mtdev, Linux Kernel HID, TUIO. There is also a multi-touch mouse simulator included.
It is built with Cython (C extensions for Python) and, in order to create apps, Python knowledge is required.
The platforms currently supported are Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and Android.
Kivy has functions to handle animation, caching, gestures, drawing and much more. There are also many built-in user interface elements like button, camera, grid, slider or tree view.
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