Pomodoro Timer
Pomodoro Technique timer with focused work sessions and scheduled breaks to boost your productivity.
Related guide
Countdown, Pomodoro and Stopwatch: Which One Still Keeps Time in a Hidden Tab
The stopwatch recomputes the elapsed time from the system clock every 20 ms, so a throttled tab cannot make it lose a second; the countdown and the Pomodoro timer count ticks instead and fall behind. Measured on the pages: a finished countdown restarts in one press while the Pomodoro timer needs two, a 200-minute focus block is accepted despite the field saying 120, and a negative entry leaves 0-5:00 on screen.
The cycle this timer implements
The Pomodoro Technique breaks work into short, fixed blocks — traditionally 25 minutes — separated by short breaks, on the reasoning that a deadline you can see makes it easier to start and harder to drift off task. The default here is 25 minutes of focus and 5 minutes of break, which you can change in the two fields at the top.
A focus block that runs to zero counts as one pomodoro, and the tally underneath the timer goes up. Break blocks are not counted — the number is meant to answer "how many blocks of real work have I finished", not "how many times has this timer fired". Finishing a break just returns you to focus mode.
How the phases hand over
When a phase ends the timer stops, plays the same short tone as the countdown, and switches the mode by itself: focus hands over to break, break hands back to focus. What it does not do is start the next phase for you, so you press Start again when you are ready. That is the more useful behaviour in practice, because a break that begins counting while you are still mid-sentence is worse than no break.
You cannot switch modes manually while the timer is running — the mode buttons are inert until it is stopped. Change the focus or break length and nothing moves until you press Reset, which re-reads both fields and reloads the current phase.
Choosing your own lengths
Both fields take whole minutes and default to 25 and 5 if left empty or filled with something that is not a number, so the timer always has a working duration. Common alternatives to the classic 25 are 45 or 50 minutes for work that needs a long run-up, and 15 or 20 minutes for the first session of the day when you are easing in.
One thing this implementation does not have is the long break that the full technique recommends after every fourth pomodoro. If you want that pattern, set the break field to something like 20 minutes once you have four blocks on the counter, or simply take the long break away from the screen.
The countdown is driven by a one-second interval rather than by comparing against the system clock, so a background tab or a sleeping laptop can leave it running slow. For a productivity timer that is rarely consequential, but it is worth knowing if you are timing something externally.
FAQ
Why does the counter not go up after a break?
Only completed focus blocks are counted, by design. The tally is meant to measure finished work units, and a break is not one. If you want to count something else, keep a note alongside it.
I changed the focus length and nothing happened.
Press Reset. The fields are read when the timer resets, not while it runs, so the new duration only takes effect after a reset. The hint under the timer says as much.
Why will it not let me switch between Focus and Break?
Mode switching is disabled while the timer is running, otherwise you could change the duration out from under an active phase. Stop the timer first, then pick the mode you want.
Does it start the break automatically?
It switches to break mode automatically but does not start counting. Finish what you were doing, then press Start. The same applies in reverse when the break ends.
What happens if I leave a field blank?
It falls back to the default for that field — 25 minutes for focus, 5 for break — so the timer never ends up with a zero-length or invalid phase.
Where is the long break after four pomodoros?
There is no separate long-break mode. Either set the break field to 15 or 20 minutes once you have four blocks counted, or step away from the screen for the long break and leave the timer stopped.