Pomodoro + memento mori
The Pomodoro technique and memento mori are two lenses at different zoom levels. Pomodoro zooms in: protect the next 25–60 minutes of focus. Memento mori zooms out: remember your time is finite, so choose what you focus on. Used together, one starts the work and the other decides whether the work is worth starting.
The near lens: Pomodoro
A Pomodoro is a bounded block of focus. Its strength is starting — the timer turns “I should work on this” into “I am working on this for the next 25 minutes.” It fights procrastination and interruption. What it doesn't do on its own is tell you whether the block mattered.
The far lens: memento mori
Memento mori — “remember you will die” — is the stoic practice of keeping your finitude in view. A life-in-weeksgrid shows a life as roughly 4,000 weeks. At that scale, an hour is a visible, countable piece of your life — which changes what you're willing to spend it on.
Putting them together
The workflow is simple: use the far lens to choose (is this worth an hour of my life?), the timer to focus (25–60 minutes, no interruptions), and a five-second grade to reflect (green, amber, or red). The blocks are the atoms; the weeks are what they add up to. Your Hours Are Numbered is built to keep both lenses in the same place.
FAQ
Can you combine the Pomodoro technique with memento mori?
Yes, and they complement each other. Pomodoro is a near-focus tool — protect the next 25–60 minutes. Memento mori is a far-focus lens — remember your time is finite. Together, the timer starts the work and the memento-mori perspective makes you care which work you start.
What app does both?
Your Hours Are Numbered pairs a Pomodoro timer with hour grading and a life-in-weeks memento-mori view, so the near lens (this block) and the far lens (your whole life) stay connected.
Isn't thinking about death distracting during focused work?
Memento mori isn't meant to intrude on the block itself — it sets the intention before and reflects after. During the 25 minutes you just focus. The finitude lens operates at the level of 'is this worth an hour of my life,' not moment to moment.