Session setup

A free Pomodoro timer you can customize: set focus and break lengths, pick colours and a background, then track what you actually did. No account needed.

The Pomodoro technique is a simple way to structure work you have been avoiding: you commit to one task for a fixed stretch, take a real break, and repeat. The timer does the deciding, so you are not renegotiating with yourself every few minutes.

This page sets up a session before you start it. Choose how long a focus block runs, how long the short and long breaks are, and how many focus blocks pass before the long break. The colours, icons and background are here too, because a screen you do not mind looking at is a screen you are more likely to leave open.

How the classic cycle works

Francesco Cirillo's original formulation used 25 minutes of focus and 5 minutes of rest, with a longer 15-to-30-minute break after four rounds. The 25 minutes was chosen to be short enough that starting feels cheap — the hard part of most tasks is beginning, not continuing.

The defaults here are longer: 50 minutes of focus, a 10-minute short break, 20 minutes for the long break, and four rounds. Longer blocks suit work with real spin-up cost, like writing or debugging, where a 25-minute cap can cut you off just as context loads. Neither number is sacred. If you keep abandoning blocks halfway, shorten them.

Setting up a session

  1. Set the focus length. Pick a span you can realistically hold, not the one you wish you could — an honest 25 minutes beats an aspirational 90 you bail on.
  2. Set the short break. Long enough to stand up and look away from the screen; short enough that you come back.
  3. Set the long break and the number of rounds before it triggers.
  4. Pick a colour palette and background, then start the timer. Focus and break screens use different colours so a glance tells you which state you are in.

Making the breaks count

  • Leave the chair. The break is for your eyes and back, not for a different screen.
  • Do not start anything with a thread you will want to keep pulling — messages and short videos are the usual culprits.
  • If an interrupting thought arrives mid-block, write it down and keep going. The note takes five seconds; the context switch costs minutes.
  • Let the long break actually be long. Four consecutive focus blocks is real cognitive work, and the recovery is what makes the next set possible.

Tracking what you actually did

Planned time and spent time diverge, and the gap is the useful information. The dashboard records finished focus blocks and lets you track other activities — work, study, commute, breaks, or anything you name — with either a count-up timer or the Pomodoro cycle. You can correct start and end times afterwards, because nobody remembers to press start.

Nothing you enter is sent anywhere. This page has no backend and no account — your settings, alarms and saved entries are stored in your own browser's local storage and stay on this device. Clearing your browser data clears them.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I get interrupted mid-block?

Pause the timer, or let it run and treat the block as spoiled. Cirillo's own rule was strict — an interrupted pomodoro does not count — but the point is to notice how often you are interrupted, not to punish yourself. Pause, deal with it, resume.

Do I need an account?

No. There is no sign-up and no server. Everything is stored in your browser, which also means your history does not follow you to another device or browser. Use Export on the Data tab to move it.

Will the timer keep accurate time in a background tab?

Yes. Remaining time is derived from the clock, not from counting intervals, so a throttled or backgrounded tab does not cause drift. The tab title also shows the countdown while the tab is hidden.

Are 25-minute blocks better than longer ones?

It depends on the work. Short blocks lower the cost of starting, which helps with procrastination and with fragmented tasks. Longer blocks suit work with expensive context — code, prose, analysis — where being interrupted at 25 minutes wastes the spin-up. Try both and keep whichever you actually finish.

Can I change the lengths after starting?

Yes. Go back to setup, adjust the numbers, and start again. Settings are saved in your browser, so the next session opens with the same configuration.