What is a pomodoro timer, and how does the technique work?

A pomodoro timer splits work into fixed focus intervals, with a short break after each one and a longer break after a set of them. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato: Francesco Cirillo named the method after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used as a student, which is why it is also called a tomato timer. His lengths, and the ones this page opens with, are twenty-five minutes of focus and five of break, with a longer break after four rounds. Press Start and the clock shows which phase you are in, which round it belongs to and the time of day the interval ends, and a short tone sounds at each change.

Does the timer keep running if I switch to another tab?

The count does. Browsers stop drawing a hidden tab and slow its timers to roughly one a minute, so a pomodoro that adds a second to a counter every second loses whatever the browser did not deliver and comes back minutes short. This one keeps the clock reading it started from and subtracts, so which phase you are in is worked out from elapsed time and nothing is ever accumulated: leave the tab for ten minutes and the first reading after you return is exactly right. The alarm is the part that cannot be promised. A throttled tab can deliver it late, a device that has gone to sleep may not deliver it until you wake it, and closing the tab ends it, because nothing here runs outside the page.

Does it work on a Mac, Windows, Linux, a Chromebook or a phone, and do I need an app?

It works in any current browser, such as Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox, on a Mac, a Windows or Linux PC, a Chromebook, an iPhone or an Android phone. The timer is this page, so there is no app or extension to add, and once the page has loaded it keeps working with no network. The Sound on button in the row with the lengths switches to Sound off for a silent timer in a library or a shared room.

How do I set a 30, 45 or 60 minute session, and are the lengths remembered?

Focus, short break and long break are fields in minutes, so 30 and 5, 45 and 15, or a 60 or 120 minute block is a matter of typing the number. Any length above zero up to 24 hours is accepted, decimals such as 2.5 included, and the rounds before the long break are a choice of two, four or six. A length applies as soon as it is typed. If you change a length while the timer is running, the cycle is worked out again from the time that has already elapsed, which can move you into a different part of it, so press Reset to start the new lengths cleanly from the first focus interval. The three cases under the timer set a whole scheme in one click and start the cycle again. Your four lengths and the sound switch are kept in this browser only, and the Start over button at the top of the page forgets them.

How many rounds should there be before the long break, and what do Skip and Reset do?

Four is the classic setting, and it puts the long break two hours in at twenty-five and five. Two rounds of fifty and ten reach it in the same two hours with fewer interruptions, and six rounds of fifteen and three reach it in one hour forty-eight, which suits work that is hard to start. All three are one click below the timer. Skip ends the interval you are in and starts the next one straight away, which is how you take a break early or cut one short, and Reset goes back to the beginning of the first focus interval. Neither one changes your lengths.

Can I use it as a study timer, or with sessions shorter than twenty-five minutes, for example with ADHD?

Yes, the timer does not know what the work is, so revision, reading, writing and coding all run the same way. For a long stretch on one subject, the Deep work case runs 50 and 10. If twenty-five minutes is too long to hold, with ADHD or otherwise, the Short cycle case runs 15 and 3, and any field takes a shorter length still, such as 10. The tone rises going into focus and falls going into a break, so you can tell which one started without looking up.

Can I put the timer on my own page as a widget?

Yes. The Embed button in the row above the heading copies a short iframe code at a height you choose, with a preview of the frame at that height. Paste it into any site or page editor that accepts HTML, and the framed timer runs on the same clock with the same alarm.

Pomodoro Timer

Twenty-five minutes of focus, five of break, four rounds to a long one, with every length editable in minutes. The count is read off your system clock instead of being added up tick by tick, which is the failure every browser pomodoro has: a hidden tab has its timers slowed to about one a minute, so a timer that counts ticks quietly runs slow, while this one works out where you are from the time that has actually passed and is already right the moment you look back at it. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account and nothing to install, and the alarm is a short tone the page synthesises rather than a sound file it fetches. The three worked cases below set the classic, deep work and short cycle lengths in one click, and the four lengths you settle on stay in this browser.

Focus · round 1 of 425:002 h 00 m of focus and breaks, then a 15 minute long break

Focus: min
Short break: min
Long break: min
Rounds

Ready. Press Start to begin the first focus interval.

Classic25 and 5, four rounds
2 h 00 m to the long break, 2 h 15 m for the whole cycle
Deep work50 and 10, two rounds
2 h 00 m to the long break, 2 h 20 m for the whole cycle
Short cycle15 and 3, six rounds
1 h 48 m to the long break, 1 h 58 m for the whole cycle

A round is one focus interval followed by one short break. The long break comes after the last round, and then the cycle starts again from round 1. Change a length while the timer is running and the cycle is worked out again from the time already elapsed, so press Reset to start the new lengths from the beginning. Skip jumps to the start of the next interval.

Exact about elapsed time. Each interval is measured against the system clock rather than counted tick by tick, so a throttled or backgrounded tab does not drift. The alarm can be late or silent while the tab is in the background or the device is asleep, and the browser needs one click on the page before it will play any sound.

Common questions

What is a pomodoro timer, and how does the technique work?: A pomodoro timer splits work into fixed focus intervals, with a short break after each one and a longer break after a set of them. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato: Francesco Cirillo named the method after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used as a student, which is why it is also called a tomato timer. His lengths, and the ones this page opens with, are twenty-five minutes of focus and five of break, with a longer break after four rounds. Press Start and the clock shows which phase you are in, which round it belongs to and the time of day the interval ends, and a short tone sounds at each change.
Does the timer keep running if I switch to another tab?: The count does. Browsers stop drawing a hidden tab and slow its timers to roughly one a minute, so a pomodoro that adds a second to a counter every second loses whatever the browser did not deliver and comes back minutes short. This one keeps the clock reading it started from and subtracts, so which phase you are in is worked out from elapsed time and nothing is ever accumulated: leave the tab for ten minutes and the first reading after you return is exactly right. The alarm is the part that cannot be promised. A throttled tab can deliver it late, a device that has gone to sleep may not deliver it until you wake it, and closing the tab ends it, because nothing here runs outside the page.
Does it work on a Mac, Windows, Linux, a Chromebook or a phone, and do I need an app?: It works in any current browser, such as Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox, on a Mac, a Windows or Linux PC, a Chromebook, an iPhone or an Android phone. The timer is this page, so there is no app or extension to add, and once the page has loaded it keeps working with no network. The Sound on button in the row with the lengths switches to Sound off for a silent timer in a library or a shared room.
How do I set a 30, 45 or 60 minute session, and are the lengths remembered?: Focus, short break and long break are fields in minutes, so 30 and 5, 45 and 15, or a 60 or 120 minute block is a matter of typing the number. Any length above zero up to 24 hours is accepted, decimals such as 2.5 included, and the rounds before the long break are a choice of two, four or six. A length applies as soon as it is typed. If you change a length while the timer is running, the cycle is worked out again from the time that has already elapsed, which can move you into a different part of it, so press Reset to start the new lengths cleanly from the first focus interval. The three cases under the timer set a whole scheme in one click and start the cycle again. Your four lengths and the sound switch are kept in this browser only, and the Start over button at the top of the page forgets them.
How many rounds should there be before the long break, and what do Skip and Reset do?: Four is the classic setting, and it puts the long break two hours in at twenty-five and five. Two rounds of fifty and ten reach it in the same two hours with fewer interruptions, and six rounds of fifteen and three reach it in one hour forty-eight, which suits work that is hard to start. All three are one click below the timer. Skip ends the interval you are in and starts the next one straight away, which is how you take a break early or cut one short, and Reset goes back to the beginning of the first focus interval. Neither one changes your lengths.
Can I use it as a study timer, or with sessions shorter than twenty-five minutes, for example with ADHD?: Yes, the timer does not know what the work is, so revision, reading, writing and coding all run the same way. For a long stretch on one subject, the Deep work case runs 50 and 10. If twenty-five minutes is too long to hold, with ADHD or otherwise, the Short cycle case runs 15 and 3, and any field takes a shorter length still, such as 10. The tone rises going into focus and falls going into a break, so you can tell which one started without looking up.
Can I put the timer on my own page as a widget?: Yes. The Embed button in the row above the heading copies a short iframe code at a height you choose, with a preview of the frame at that height. Paste it into any site or page editor that accepts HTML, and the framed timer runs on the same clock with the same alarm.

Each interval is measured against the system clock rather than counted tick by tick, so a throttled or backgrounded tab does not drift. The alarm can be late or silent while the tab is in the background or the device is asleep, and the browser needs one click on the page before it will play any sound.