DEV Community: Jai Marshall

The Pomodoro Technique: Is it really worth it?

Jai Marshall — Tue, 25 May 2021 21:47:05 +0000

Hey everyone! Long time no see! It has been a minute since I wrote a post here. I have been super busy trying to tie down my interests in tech. At first I wanted to go the front end route, but my interests are changing. I want to try my hand at UX/UI. If you have any courses are resources for me, let me know. Thanks!

Anyway. Enough about me. This post is about the famous Pomodoro Technique that was started by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. It is a time management technique that he named after the tomato themed kitchen timer he used during school. You basically set a timer for 25 minutes and work during that time. Afterwards you have a quick break, and then set the timer back to 25 minutes for the next task on your to-do list.

Are you someone who could use the Pomodoro Technique in your day to day life? According to this Todist article if you are any of the following the answer is yes:

Find little distractions often derail the whole workday
Consistently work past the point of optimal productivity
Have lots of open-ended work that could take unlimited amounts of time (e.g., studying for an exam, research for a blog post, etc.)
Are overly optimistic when it comes to how much you can get done in a day (aren't we all 🙃)
Enjoy gamified goal-setting
Really like tomatoes

Even though I love productivity tools, I am usually on the fence about them. I think some productivity tools actually waste time. However I have been using this time management technique for a few days, and it has been helpful. Do I think I will use it all the time? No. I do think on days that I am super busy, this will help me stay on track. I craft, I code, and I do a lot of other things, so this should be helpful to me. What are some productivity and time management tools that you use?

Photo by おにぎり on Unsplash.

Using Lo-Fi Music To Code and Get Stuff Done

Jai Marshall — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 22:06:12 +0000

2020 has been a crazy year huh? If you have been following me on my Instagram, you would know that my coding journey hasn't been all that great this year. As a matter of fact, it has kinda been at a standstill. Why? Well my brand new HP Envy x360 laptop that I bought in December 2019, crashed three times. Not one, not two, but three times. They finally sent me a replacement laptop that that had been refurbished with my original specs.

I haven't done much coding, but when I did do a little something something I listened to a genre of music called Lo-Fi and some Chillout music to help me get to work. I would describe Lo-Fi music as a jazzy form of Hip Hop with a smooth bent to it, and Chillout is a form of House music that you can literally chill too. Actually you can chill to both, focus, rest, or get work done while listening to them.

I have been using the following YouTube Channels, online radio stations, and playlists to stay focused and busy:

Code Radio by FreeCodeCamp has a great selection of Lo-Fi music to keep you focused. The Chillout Classics playlist on Spotify helps me get stuff done with all of my fave 90s Chillout House tracks. The nourish. channel is the best because you can find all types of calm and soothing music on there. They have a great selection of Lo-Fi music too. If you are looking for more meditative tracks, check out this post on my other blog The Fat and Skinny on Fashion.

Stock photos are from Unsplash.

I Used GitHub's Profile README Feature

Jai Marshall — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 22:00:33 +0000

GitHub has a new profile README feature that lets you put a README file at the top of your profile so users can see information about you like a mini bio, portfolio space, contact me page, or anything you want. The reason I said that is was "secret" is because it is a secret feature that has been blogged and written about all over social media now, so the cat is kinda out of the bag.

I first started seeing web development website Dev.to talking about it on Twitter. Then I saw Monica Powell tweet her blog post about the new feature. After going through her post and a bunch of Dev.to articles, I saw a GitHub Profile README Generator from Rahul Jain.

It was simple and easy to use. I really recommend it. If you are looking to try it, use his generator. You can also look at Monica's site for step by step instructions on how to add it to your GitHub repository as well as see examples from other developers.