Use Insight Timer with your Pomodoro Technique for better focus.

The first time I tried Insight Timer’s Sleep Mixer feature, I selected “Koshi Chimes (Fire & Air)”. These are really special bamboo wind chimes often used in sound baths because they’re so tingly-sounding and peaceful. (The recording isn’t the same as the real thing, of course, but these chimes are over $100 each — it’s a lot easier on the wallet to listen to the four different elements through your headphones using the app.)

The Sleep Mixer has different kinds of sounds and frequencies, including bells, ocean waves, birds, sound bowls, coloured noise, humming, and more. It’s fun to mix and match. It’s like a sound sundae bar! (This isn’t an affiliate post btw, I just really like this app).

Listening to certain sounds helps me slip into a creative flow state. The hallmark of that state is feeling both fascinated and calm at the same time. I mixed the Koshi chimes with “Babbling Brook” and created a writing soundtrack that’s both energizing and peaceful.

Feeling calm and aware helps me stay focused naturally, and being present allows me to genuinely find pleasure in my process. Nature sounds regulate my breath and my nervous system, so my shoulders and arms stay nice and loose, whether I am writing by hand or tapping the keyboard.

I get overwhelmed by big projects if I don’t chunk them down into small pieces. So I often put things off because I’m intimidated by the scope of things I have to do. OR I start working, and then I can’t seem to... stop. I have a tendency to get “hooked” into a focused state, which is good for getting work done, but I often feel drained afterwards.

Rest and recovery are important, but a consistent and fruitful creative practice doesn’t have to be a stress for the body.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management method that breaks deep work into 25-minute intervals of focused, uninterrupted effort, separated by short breaks. It helps prevent burnout and increases productivity by building mental rest into your workflow.

The Pomodoro Technique is simple and it really works.

Here’s the basic structure:

1. Choose a task: Pick one specific thing you want to accomplish.

2. Set a timer: Work on the task for 25 minutes (this is one “Pomodoro”).

3. Take a short break: Once the timer rings, rest for 5 minutes (step away from your workspace, stretch, or drink water).

4. Repeat and reward: Complete four Pomodoro sessions, then take a longer, 15 to 30-minute break to fully recharge before starting the cycle over.

I’m really enjoying using this little Insight Timer Sleep Mixer tool for my Pomodoros! You can set the timer to make yourself a nice container for deep work that finishes whenever you want. 

I wrote this very post while I listened to it.

If you’re busy with a heaping plate of life right now and you have a deadline for your creative work, four Pomodoros set to a personal sound mix could help you meet it. And if you resist your writing because you’ve crisped your brain with hyper-focus in the past, writing with sound (and periods of rest) is a wonderful way to even out your writing energy.

If you try it, tell me your favourite sound combos!

Photo credit (top): Alexey a l o h a on Unsplash.
Photo credit (middle): Ngo Ngoc Khai Huyen on Unsplash.