Date/Time

Pomodoro Timer

A dedicated timer for the Pomodoro Technique, alternating 25-minute work sessions with 5-minute breaks. Work time, break time, and the number of cycles before a long break are all fully configurable, with sound and auto-advance to keep you on track.

For a one-off countdown, we also have a simple timer.

Tips

  • The default settings follow the classic Pomodoro Technique: 25 minutes of work, 5-minute short breaks, a 15-minute long break, and 4 cycles. You can freely adjust any of these on the setup screen before starting.
  • Turn off "Automatically start the next phase" if you want to control the switch between work and break yourself — the timer will wait for you to press "Next phase" at every transition.
  • After 4 completed work sessions the timer automatically switches to a long break. The row of tomato icons shows your progress toward that long break at a glance.
  • The countdown keeps running even if you switch to another browser tab, and the tab title flashes when a phase finishes so you notice it even while working elsewhere.
  • Reloading the page resets the elapsed time and cycle progress, so keep the tab open during a long session rather than closing or refreshing it.

Frequently Asked Questions

One pomodoro is a single cycle that pairs a work session with a short break — by default 25 minutes of work plus a 5-minute break, for 30 minutes total. After four pomodoros, a longer break follows.

Yes. On the setup screen before starting, you can freely change the work minutes, short break minutes, long break minutes, and the number of cycles before a long break. You are not limited to the classic 25/5/15/4 defaults.

No, by default the timer automatically moves to the next phase once work or a break finishes. Uncheck "Automatically start the next phase" if you would rather press "Next phase" yourself at each transition.

For a single countdown with no cycle management, our "Timer" tool is a better fit — it lets you set any hours, minutes, and seconds as a plain countdown.

Both the elapsed time and your cycle progress are reset, since nothing is saved. Keep the tab open during a long session rather than closing or reloading it.
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Side Note — Why 25 minutes? The origin of the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique was invented in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, then an Italian university student. Its name comes from the tomato-shaped ("pomodoro" in Italian) kitchen timer he used while studying. By repeating a cycle of 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break — one such unit being called "a pomodoro" — the method helps you sustain concentration without burning out.

A common question is why 25 minutes specifically. Cirillo himself has written that he experimented with 10-, 30-, and 45-minute intervals before settling on 25 as the length that best balanced a sense of urgency ("almost done") with sustained focus. It is worth noting there is no strict physiological formula behind the number — it emerged from trial and error rather than a scientific study.

This timer keeps 25/5/15 minutes as sensible defaults, but every value can be adjusted to match your task and personal attention span. Research suggests the length of time people can sustain deep focus varies considerably between individuals, and immersive work like video editing or programming often benefits from longer 40–50 minute work blocks instead.

The "long break" that arrives every four cycles is more than just extra rest. Where the short 5-minute breaks are meant to ease mental tension, the roughly 15-minute long break is designed to reset both mind and body — standing up, stretching, or getting a drink of water. The quality of that longer rest is said to directly influence how focused the next set of cycles will be.

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