Pomodoro Timer

What is the Pomodoro Technique?

The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management method built around short, focused bursts of work separated by real breaks: 25 minutes of undistracted focus, then a 5-minute break, repeated four times before a longer 15-minute break resets the cycle. It was developed in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, who used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer (pomodoro is Italian for tomato) to time his study sessions — the name stuck.

The idea is simple but effective: a fixed, visible countdown creates urgency and removes the temptation to "just check one more thing," while the built-in breaks prevent the burnout that comes from working in long, undefined stretches.

How to use the Pomodoro timer

Press start to begin a 25-minute focus session — the ring and phase badge above the timer make it obvious at a glance whether you're in a focus session or a break. When a session ends, TimerHub plays a soft transition chime and automatically moves to the next phase: short break, then more focus, and a long break after every fourth focus session. The meta row shows exactly where you are ("Session 2 of 4") and what's coming next. Use Skip if you want to move on early, Reset to return to session one, and the settings panel below the timer to change how long each phase lasts.

Features

• Standard 25/5/15 Pomodoro structure, fully customizable
• Automatic phase transitions with a gentle chime, or manual advance if you prefer
• Live session count and a clear "next phase" hint
• Customizable focus, short break and long break durations
• Adjustable number of sessions before a long break
• Fullscreen focus mode, mutable sound, drift-corrected timing

Use cases

Studying: break dense material into focused chunks with real rest between them, so concentration doesn't decay across a long session. Deep work: protect a block of time from Slack, email and notifications by giving yourself a visible, ticking reason to stay off them. Writing: use the timer to get past the blank-page resistance — commit to 25 minutes, not "finishing the whole thing." ADHD-friendly work sessions: the short, clearly bounded intervals make it easier to start and easier to stop, both of which can be hard without an external cue. Avoiding burnout: the built-in breaks aren't optional extras — they're part of the technique, and skipping them regularly is what leads to the afternoon crash.

Tips

• Silence notifications on your phone and computer before a focus session starts — the whole point is one uninterrupted thing.
• Take breaks away from your screen — stand up, stretch, look out a window. Scrolling a phone doesn't count as rest.
• If 25 minutes feels too short or too long for your work, adjust it in settings — the technique works at other lengths too, as long as focus and break stay proportional.
• Write down what you plan to do in the next session before you start it — it removes the "what should I work on" decision from inside the timer.