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.
A timer for the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a way of managing time that holds attention by alternating short spells of work with breaks. This tool lets you set the length of the work spell, the short break and the long break, along with how many cycles precede a long break, and announces each change of phase by sound and on screen. You may also choose to have it advance by itself.
**The figure of twenty-five minutes is not what the technique is really about.** It happens to be the interval its originator, Francesco Cirillo, marked out on a kitchen timer, and **it may perfectly well be adjusted to however long your own attention holds.** Closer to the heart of the matter is the rule that **a spell interrupted partway through does not count.** It is precisely that line which makes visible how much uninterrupted time you are actually managing to secure. Use the timer alone while accepting every interruption as it comes, and all you gain is more divisions, not deeper attention.
How to use it
- Settle the work and break lengths **Try twenty-five and five to begin with, and adjust to however long your attention holds if that does not suit.**
- Settle the cycles before a long break Taking a longer break every four cycles is the usual arrangement.
- Decide whether it advances by itself **Setting it to manual leaves you the judgement of when to move on at each division.**
- Do not count an interrupted spell **This is the crux of the technique.** Record the interruption and consider whether it can be prevented next time.
Tips for getting more out of it
- 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.
Where it comes in useful
Getting started on a long task
**Work you cannot bring yourself to begin becomes far easier to start when framed as "just twenty-five minutes."**
Estimating how much you can do
Counting how many spells you complete in a day gives you grounds for your next estimate.
Remembering to take breaks
Absorbed in the work one tends to skip them, and the divisions serve as the reminder.
Establishing a rhythm when working from home
**Where the start and end of the day blur easily, the divisions give you something to hold on to.**
Pomodoro terms
- Pomodoro
- One spell of work. The word is Italian for tomato and **comes from the tomato-shaped kitchen timer its originator used.**
- Short break
- The break taken after each spell. Three to five minutes is the mark, and standing up to move about is held to be worthwhile.
- Long break
- The longer break taken every few cycles, with fifteen to thirty minutes as the mark.
- Interruption
- Any break in the work partway through a spell. **Recording those arising within and those arriving from outside separately makes it easier to do something about them.**
- Cycle
- The number of spells repeated before a long break, usually taken as four.
- Automatic advance
- The setting that moves to the next phase by itself. **Switching to manual leaves room to draw breath before the change.**
Frequently Asked Questions
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.