Pomodoro Timer
Work 25, rest 5, repeat — the classic focus technique with the timing handled for you.
This Pomodoro timer runs the technique for you: 25 minutes of focused work, then a 5-minute break, with a longer 15 to 30 minute break after every fourth work session. A bell marks each transition so you never have to watch the clock — which is the whole point.
The Pomodoro Technique, invented by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and named after his tomato-shaped kitchen timer, works on a simple insight: committing to just 25 minutes feels easy, so you actually start — and the fixed end point keeps you off email and social feeds because "the break is coming anyway". Over a morning, four pomodoros add up to nearly two hours of genuinely focused work.
The timer runs in your browser tab, free and without sign-up. Keep the tab open while you work; closing it stops the session.
How to run a Pomodoro session
- Pick one task you will work on — write it down if it helps.
- Press Start on the 25-minute work timer.
- Work on that single task until the bell rings; note distractions instead of following them.
- Take the 5-minute break when the timer switches — stand up, look away from the screen.
- After four work sessions, take the long break the timer offers, then start the next cycle.
Making the technique stick
Treat the pomodoro as indivisible: if you finish a task early, use the remaining minutes to review or plan rather than stopping the clock. If something interrupts you badly enough that you must deal with it, the orthodox rule is to abandon that pomodoro and start a fresh one — half-focused sessions train half-focus.
The 25/5 split is a default, not a law. Many people settle into 50/10 for deep work or 15/3 when energy is low. What matters is the rhythm: a hard start, a single task, and a real break where you leave the screen. Match the timer to your attention span, not the other way round.
What a full cycle looks like
One round is 25 minutes of work followed by a 5-minute break. Do that four times and you take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes before the next set of four. The timer moves through these stages automatically and rings a bell at every transition, so you never track the pattern yourself.
Across a morning, four pomodoros deliver close to two hours of genuinely focused work with three short recoveries built in — far more than most people manage when they try to grind straight through and burn out by mid-morning.
How the timer runs the cycle in your browser
The whole sequence runs inside your browser tab against your device's clock, free and with no sign-up and nothing uploaded. Press Start and it counts the current stage down, advances to the next, and sounds the bell. You can switch to your actual work in another tab and the countdown keeps going.
Two honest caveats apply, as with any browser timer: the tab must stay open and the device awake for the bell to ring, and the sound only plays if you have interacted with the page — pressing Start counts. A closed tab or a sleeping laptop stops the session.
Handling interruptions
The technique treats a pomodoro as indivisible. When a distraction pops up, the discipline is to jot it on a list and keep working, dealing with it in the break — most "urgent" thoughts can wait 20 minutes, and writing them down quiets the urge to chase them.
If a genuine emergency forces you to break focus, the orthodox rule is to void that pomodoro and start a fresh one later rather than resume a half-broken block. Half-focused sessions train half-focus, and protecting the block is the whole point.
Who gets the most from it
It suits any work that rewards sustained attention and is easy to procrastinate on: studying and revision, coding, writing, design, and admin backlogs. The tiny 25-minute commitment lowers the barrier to starting, which is where most stalled tasks actually fail.
Many people who struggle with focus or task-initiation find the external structure especially helpful — the timer, not willpower, decides when to work and when to rest. It works for chores too: a 25-minute cleaning sprint clears more than an unstructured afternoon of "getting to it".
Tuning the intervals to your work
The 25/5 split is the famous default, not a rule. For deep, flow-heavy work many people prefer 50/10; on a low-energy day 15/3 keeps momentum without demanding too much. Match the work interval to how long your attention naturally holds.
Whatever numbers you pick, keep the three essentials: a hard start on a single task, no task-switching mid-block, and a real break where you leave the screen. The rhythm is what produces the focus — the exact minutes are yours to adjust.
Getting the bell to sound, and related tools
If a transition passes silently, the usual causes are a muted tab, low system volume, or the browser blocking audio because you never interacted with the page — starting the timer with a click fixes the last one. Keep the tab open and the device awake so each bell lands on time.
For a single one-off countdown rather than repeating cycles, use the timer; to measure elapsed time, the stopwatch counts up with laps; and to track the days until a deadline, the countdown-to-date tool keeps a live tally that survives closing the page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Pomodoro Technique in one sentence?
Work in fixed 25-minute blocks on one task, separated by 5-minute breaks, with a longer break after every four blocks — using a timer to enforce both the focus and the rest.
Why 25 minutes?
It is short enough that starting feels painless, long enough to get real work done, and it makes the arithmetic easy: a pomodoro plus its break is half an hour. If 25 does not fit your work, adjust — the structure matters more than the exact number.
What should I do during the 5-minute break?
Anything that is not the task and not another screen: stretch, refill water, look out of a window. The break resets your attention; scrolling a feed does not.
Does the timer keep running in a background tab?
Yes — switch to your work and the countdown continues, with the bell sounding at each transition. Closing the tab stops it, though, since it runs in your browser rather than on a server.
Is this Pomodoro timer free?
Yes, free with no account, no limits and no data collection. Sessions run entirely on your device.
How many pomodoros make a good day?
Most people manage 8 to 12 genuinely focused pomodoros in a full workday — meetings and admin eat the rest. Even 4 (about 2 hours of deep work) beats most unstructured days, so start small.