What is a Pomodoro timer?

A timer that alternates focus sessions and breaks: by default 25 minutes of focus and 5 minutes of rest, with a longer 15-minute break after every 4 sessions. It's named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer Francesco Cirillo used when he came up with the method in the late 1980s.

Why is a pomodoro 25 minutes?

That's the length Cirillo settled on: long enough to get real work done, short enough that starting doesn't feel like a big commitment. It isn't a rule. Here you can set focus anywhere from 1 to 90 minutes.

Can I change the Pomodoro timer to 50 minutes?

Yes. Set focus to 50 and pick a break that fits, such as 10 minutes. Focus, short break and long break each go from 1 to 90 minutes.

How many pomodoros should I do in a day?

There's no right number. Start by seeing what you really manage: today's focus total shows your actual minutes. A few honest sessions on your hardest task often beat a long day of half-attention.

What should I do during a Pomodoro break?

Something away from the task, and ideally away from the screen: stand up, stretch, drink some water, look out a window, or take a short walk on the long break. Checking messages tends to eat the whole break and pull your head into other work.

Does the focus timer start the break automatically?

Only if you turn on auto-start. With it on, each phase starts the next one by itself. With it off, the timer waits for you to start the next phase.

Where is my focus time saved?

In this browser, on this device. There's no account and nothing is synced, so clearing your browser data erases today's total along with your settings.

Pomodoro Timer: Free Online Focus Timer for Study and Work

This focus timer runs the Pomodoro technique for you: it times a focus session, then a break, and counts your sessions so the long break comes at the right moment. It works in the browser on any device, adds up today's focus minutes and needs no account.

What the Pomodoro technique is

The Pomodoro technique was created by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, when he was a university student trying to study without getting distracted. He timed himself with a kitchen timer shaped like a tomato, and pomodoro means tomato. Each focus session became one pomodoro.

The idea is simple: pick one task, work on it until the timer rings, take a short break, and do it again. After four sessions, take a longer break. A running clock makes it easier to start, and knowing a break is coming makes it easier to keep going.

How the focus timer runs: 25, 5 and 15 minutes

Focus, 25 minutes. Work on one thing until it rings. Each completed session adds a dot.
Short break, 5 minutes. Stand up, get some water, look away from the screen.
Focus and short break again, as many times as it takes to reach four sessions.
Long break, 15 minutes, after every 4 focus sessions. Then the cycle starts over.

Change the lengths to fit your work

Focus, short break and long break can each be set anywhere from 1 to 90 minutes. A few setups people like:

25 / 5 / 15, the classic. Good for studying and for tasks you've been putting off.
50 / 10 / 30 for deep work like writing or coding, where 25 minutes ends just as you get going.
15 / 3 / 10 for days when starting at all is hard, or for younger students.

There's nothing magic about 25 minutes

Try a setup for a few days and change it if the breaks keep coming too early or too late. If you keep wanting to stop at minute 15, shorten the focus. If the timer keeps cutting you off mid-thought, make it longer. The right length is the one you stick to.

Auto-start, or a pause between phases

With auto-start on, the next phase begins by itself: the break starts when focus ends, and the next focus session starts when the break ends. That keeps a long study block moving without you touching anything.

With it off, the timer waits for you after each phase. That lets you wrap up a thought before the break and start the next session when you're really back at your desk.

Today's focus total

The timer adds up today's focus minutes, so at the end of the day you see time actually spent focusing, not just the hours you sat at a desk. Four sessions at the default length add up to 100 minutes of focus, which is more than it sounds.

The total is kept in this browser only, so it won't follow you to another device, and clearing your browser data erases it.

Honest tips for studying and work

Decide the task before you press start. "Chapter 4, problems 1 to 10" works. "Study" doesn't.
Keep a note for stray thoughts. When you remember an email you need to send, write it down and get back to work. Deal with it on the break.
Make breaks real breaks. Get up, stretch, refill your water. A quick scroll through your phone has a way of turning 5 minutes into 20.
Put your phone out of reach, or at least face down, during focus sessions.
If you're in the zone when it rings, it's fine to keep going. The timer is there to help you start and stop, not to boss you around.
Expect the first few days to feel slow. Twenty-five minutes on one task is harder than it sounds if you're used to switching.

Running it in the background while you work

On a computer, you can leave the focus timer in a background tab and work in other windows. It measures time from your device's clock, so a slowed-down background tab doesn't throw it off, and the sound plays when a phase ends as long as the tab is open and the computer is awake. Browser notifications, if you turn them on and allow them, give you a visible alert too.

On a phone, keep the page on screen. Phones may pause a page in the background and a locked phone can freeze the browser, so the end of a phase can come late or silently. On iPhone, the silent switch can mute the sound. While the timer runs, the page asks the browser to keep the screen awake, on browsers that support it.

Pomodoro Focus Timer