What is the Pomodoro Technique?

The Pomodoro Technique is a way to work in short, focused sessions with breaks in between. You work on one task for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. After four focus sessions you take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. The fixed rhythm makes it easier to start, keeps distractions out of the session and stops you from working for hours without a rest.

The method was created by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and is named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used. Each focus session is called a pomodoro, Italian for tomato.

Tool description

Press Start to begin a focus session. The big clock counts down the time left and the bar below it fills up. When the time is up, the timer plays a short chime and moves on to the next phase:

  • After a focus session comes a short break
  • After every fourth focus session comes a long break instead
  • After a break comes the next focus session

Use the tabs to switch to a phase yourself. Pause stops the clock and Resume carries on from where it stopped. Reset starts the current phase again from the top. Skip ends the current phase early and moves on as if its time had run out, so a skipped focus session still counts.

Below the timer you can see how many focus sessions you've done and how many are left until the next long break.

Settings

  • Focus, Short break and Long break: the length of each phase in minutes, 25, 5 and 15 by default
  • Long break after: how many focus sessions come before a long break, 4 by default
  • Start the next phase automatically: when on, the next phase starts by itself when the time is up. When off, the timer waits for you to press Start
  • Sound: plays a chime when a phase ends

A length you change during a phase applies from the next phase on.

Tips

  • The timer keeps correct time in a background tab, and the time left shows in the tab's title while it runs
  • Keep the tab open and the sound on, so you hear when a phase ends
  • Use the breaks to step away from the screen

Features

  • Focus sessions, short breaks and long breaks
  • Adjustable lengths and long break interval
  • Start, pause, reset and skip
  • Chime at the end of each phase
  • Optional automatic start of the next phase
  • Count of finished focus sessions