Love it, nothing would get done without it. A few tricks and changes I applied over the decades:

• When you are in a hard spot, or habit building, or a child, 25 minutes can be too much. How about 10 minutes. The thought that after those 10 minutes I’ll be more skilled at X than ever before IN MY LIFE can be quite motivating.
• Similarly, how about just ONE session? Seems ridiculous, but what I got done with that over 10 years is nothing short of amazing.
• Be super-serious about it. You can get water upfront, you can go to the toilet, but not once the session started. It’s essentially Squid Game, and only the player who crammed the most into their head survives. If you have to pee, you pee in your pants. You don’t get water. When you do break the rules, e. g. because there is literally a fire (react to fire only if survival chance is < 90 %), the session is marked as failed and you are done for the day. It’s DEFINITELY better than half-assing two sessions even a little bit, like reacting to a phone buzz or door bell or getting water.
• Audio-Log. Your task is serious (see above), it’s like reviving a frozen Neanderthal. Example: “It’s Jan 1 2025 3 p.m. Ready to start the 25 minute countdown and point of no return … now. Ok, max performance needed. Item of highest priority: Find position in book and recap what we learned yesterday with a 42 second timebox. Note: After 42 seconds, acquisition of new information directly will become more effective than preparing for it. Timebox counting down now on second timer. …” I just hope nobody ever finds my audio logs, or I’m in the nuthouse for good.

One of the things I love about it is that it gives a unit of measure. It’s no longer like: I want to be a programmer, so I have to do this for a couple of years with no clear end. It’s a unit of progress that can go on a todo-list and be checked off.

So yes, for learning new things, it’s still my way to go. Usually with 1 unit per day only, 45 minutes, sometimes 25. Most other tasks offer a different breakdown. E. g. cleaning up - can’t just do it. But it is less threatening with checkable tasks like: 1. put all garbage in a bag. 2. put all non-foods in box 1. 3. …

My friend tried to get me to do this and I’ve tried so many times and failed to get it to work every single time. I’d do it for like a day or two if that and start to continue tasks past the timer or not start a different task and everything just unravels from there

The interval thing never worked for me. But the timer helped me keeping focus. I use an app where the timer gets the name of the task I’m doing and every time I get distracted, I can see what I am supposed to do and refocus. The timer is just set to the minimum time I want to work on that task or if I need to finish it, the time i think I’ll need for it.

It doesn’t work for me, sadly. I hate timers and time blocking. What works for me is setting up reminders, and then doing things whenever I’ve mustered up the energy to; it’s been proven to be pretty efficient so far. I will always do that - unless there’s something that I absolutely need to set up a timer for, or time block. That usually includes meetings or working on a project with someone else.

I’ve found that it destroys my hyperfocus periods, which is the only time I’m actually able to be productive, so I stopped doing it.

I don’t know how people get anything done with constant interruptions. My brain does that enough already.