Focus timer

About this tool

Focus timer: what it is and how to use it

A focus timer splits work into timed blocks with a short break after each one and a longer break every few blocks. This one counts each block down, can chime when it ends, and lists the focus blocks you finished today. It is free, runs in your browser and keeps your settings on your own device.

Where working in timed blocks comes from

The best-known version is the Pomodoro Technique. Francesco Cirillo says he began developing it in the 1980s, while he was a university student, with a tomato-shaped kitchen timer; pomodoro is Italian for tomato.

In his 2006 paper, each round is 25 minutes of work followed by a break of 3 to 5 minutes, and every four rounds you take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. This timer starts from similar lengths, and you can change all of them. His own site says the technique "is much more than a sequence of 25-minute sessions": it also covers planning, estimating effort, recording and reflection.

What about the breaks? A 2022 meta-analysis of 22 study samples looked at breaks of up to ten minutes. It found small boosts in vigour and small drops in fatigue, by people's own ratings, while the overall effect on performance was not significant. Whether breaks on a fixed timer suit people better than breaks they choose themselves is still unsettled: four small studies point different ways. More in Pomodoro vs time blocking vs to-do lists.

How to use it

1. Pick a mode: Focus, Short break or Long break.
2. If you like, type what you are working on. Then press Start, or the space bar; press it again to pause.
3. When a focus block ends, the timer can chime and moves you to a break. After the number of blocks set in Settings (four to begin with), the break is a long one.
4. Open Settings to change any length, the sound, whether the next block starts by itself, and whether the time shows in the browser tab.
5. Each finished focus block is listed under Today's blocks, with the time and what you worked on. Clear today empties the list.

An example

Say a report needs drafting and your phone keeps winning. Type "Draft the first page", put the phone in another room and press Start. When the chime goes, stand up and stretch until the break ends, then start the next block. By lunchtime the list shows how many blocks went to the report.