Pomodoro Timer
A 25-minute Pomodoro focus timer with short and long breaks, presets, a task list and daily stats. Free, no sign-up, and it runs in your browser.
Dedicated page: /en/pomodoro-timer
Ready. Press Start and work on one task until the timer rings.
The timer does not start by itself: it only runs after you press Start. Sessions and tasks are stored in this browser only. Phone browsers may silence the beep if the screen locks.
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Quick answer
A pomodoro timer is a focus timer built on the Pomodoro Technique: work for 25 minutes, rest for 5, repeat, and take a longer 15 to 30 minute break after four sessions. It also has presets for deep work, custom lengths, a task list, cycle dots, a beep and notification, and daily stats.
About this Pomodoro Timer
A 25-minute Pomodoro focus timer with short and long breaks, presets, a task list and daily stats. It is one of the Work and School on ToolUstad, and like every tool here it runs entirely in your browser: nothing you type, paste or open is uploaded to a server, and there is no sign-up or usage limit.
What is a pomodoro timer?
A pomodoro timer is a focus timer built on the Pomodoro Technique, a time-management method created in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, an Italian university student who could not get through a chapter without drifting. He used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer on his desk to enforce 25-minute work intervals, and the name stuck: pomodoro is Italian for tomato. The basic loop is simple. Pick one task. Set a timer for 25 minutes and work only on that task. When it rings, take a short break of about 5 minutes. After four rounds, take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. Each 25-minute block is a pomodoro.
Cirillo's full original method goes further than the timer. It also covers planning tasks in advance, logging interruptions instead of acting on them, estimating how many rounds a task will take, and reviewing completed sessions at the end of the day. Most people only use the timer part, and that is the part researchers have tested. The timer on this page covers the interval part, plus the planning part: a task list with pomodoro estimates, and a count of sessions per task.
Presets: classic, deep work, ultradian, quick
The classic 25, 5, 15 schedule fits most knowledge work, but engineers, writers and researchers often need longer focus blocks. Deep Work, 50 minutes of focus with a 10-minute break and a 30-minute long break, roughly tracks the 52/17 pattern from a 2014 DeskTime study of high-performing employees. Ultradian, 90 minutes with a 15-minute break, follows the 90-minute alertness cycles proposed by Nathan Kleitman in the 1960s. Quick, 15 minutes with a 3-minute break, suits admin, email triage and tasks with little warm-up.
Tasks, cycles and stats
The task list holds what you plan to do, in order, with an estimate of how many pomodoros each item needs. Every finished focus session counts toward the first task and toward today's statistics, and you can add a session to any task by hand. The cycle dots show progress toward the long break: four dots for the classic setting, filled as sessions finish. A morning at 25, 5 and 15, starting at 9:00, gives focus 9:00 to 9:25, break to 9:30, focus to 9:55, break to 10:00, focus to 10:25, break to 10:30, focus to 10:55, then the long break to 11:10. Four sessions run 2 hours 10 minutes from start to finish, with 100 minutes of focus.
Best practices
- Pick one task before you start: do not stack two unrelated jobs into the same session.
- Take the break properly: stand up, walk, stretch, drink water, and stay off screens if you can.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Skipping breaks to do more sessions: the breaks are the method, and skipping them is what makes afternoons collapse.
- Switching tasks mid-pomodoro: if you are interrupted, note it and keep going, or void the session and start it again.
Who is the pomodoro timer for?
Students studying for exams, writers and programmers doing deep work, and anyone whose workday dissolves into email and chat and wants a structure that protects focus time.
Related terms: pomodoro technique, focus timer, 25 minute timer, study timer, deep work timer, break timer, productivity timer, task timer.
The timer only runs after you press Start. Phone browsers may silence the beep if the screen locks.
Learn: how to use the Pomodoro Timer
- Pick a task, or add your own with how many pomodoros it will take.
- Press Start and work on that one task until the timer rings.
- Take the break, then repeat. After 4 sessions, the long break starts.
Features
- Classic 25/5 with a 15-minute long break after 4 sessions
- Presets: Deep Work 50/10, Ultradian 90/15, Quick 15/3
- Custom focus, short break and long break lengths
- Task list with pomodoro estimates and sessions counted per task
- Cycle dots showing progress toward the long break
- Beep when a session ends, with browser notification
- Daily stats: sessions finished and focus minutes today
Worked example
A classic morning at 25, 5 and 15, with a long break after 4 sessions: focus 9:00 to 9:25, break to 9:30, focus to 9:55, break to 10:00, focus to 10:25, break to 10:30, focus to 10:55, then the long break to 11:10. Four sessions run 2 hours 10 minutes from start to finish, with 100 minutes of focus and 30 minutes of breaks.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Pomodoro Technique?
A time-management method from Francesco Cirillo, a university student in the late 1980s who used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer: pomodoro is Italian for tomato. Work for 25 minutes, rest for 5, repeat. After four rounds, take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.
Why 25 minutes?
It is a starting point, not a law. No study shows 25 minutes beats other lengths: planned breaks keep you fresher than breaks you take whenever you feel like it, but the exact number is not special. Longer tasks suit 50 or 90 minutes, and the presets cover those.
What counts as one pomodoro?
One finished focus session, with no switching to another task. If you are interrupted, Cirillo's rule is to note the interruption and keep going, or void the pomodoro and start it again. The timer counts only sessions that run to the bell.
How many pomodoros can I do in a day?
Most people manage 6 to 12, which is 2.5 to 5 hours of focus. A morning of 4 sessions is 100 minutes of focus in 2 hours 10 minutes on the clock. More than 12 usually means the breaks are being skipped, which defeats the method.
Does the timer start by itself?
No. It only runs after you press Start, and it pauses when you press Pause. The timer never auto-starts on load, and it never moves to the next phase without the bell and your say-so.
Will the sound work in a background tab?
The beep plays when the session ends, and a browser notification fires too, so you do not miss the bell when the tab is in the background. Phone browsers suspend tabs aggressively and may not fire the sound if the screen is locked.
Are my tasks and stats saved?
Yes, in this browser only. Tasks, settings and today's session count persist between visits on the same device, and the daily count resets at midnight. Nothing is uploaded, because there is no account.
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