Pomodoro timer — focus sessions and breaks that switch on their own

How to use the Pomodoro timer

1. Set Focus, Short break and Long break in minutes, and Long break after to the number of focus sessions before a long break.
2. Leave Beep when time is up ticked if you want three short beeps at the end of each phase.
3. Press Start. The badge above the clock shows the current phase and how many focus sessions are done.
4. Use Pause and Resume for interruptions, Skip phase to move on early, and Reset to go back to the first focus session.
5. Click the clock face and press Space to start or pause from the keyboard.

What it does and when to use it

The Pomodoro Technique splits work into short, timed blocks with planned rests. It helps when a task feels too big to start or when long study sessions run without breaks.

The classic pattern is 25 minutes of focus and 5 minutes of rest, with a longer break after four rounds. Many people adjust it. Longer focus blocks suit deep work such as writing or coding; shorter ones suit tired evenings or younger students. To plan which subjects go in which blocks, try the revision planner. For a single fixed alarm, the countdown timer is simpler, and the stopwatch records how long a task really took.

How it works

The timer runs in your browser tab. It notes the moment you press Start and works out the remaining time from the clock on every update, so it does not drift. When a phase reaches zero it beeps (three 880 Hz tones made with the Web Audio API, with no sound file downloaded), shows a short message such as “Focus session 1 done — short break next”, and starts the next phase. The tab title shows the time left and the phase, and the clock turns amber in the last 10 seconds.

Worked examples

These timings come from the timer’s own cycle plan, measured from the moment you press Start.

Default 25/5/15, long break after 4. Focus at 0:00, 0:30, 1:00 and 1:30, with short breaks in between. The long break starts at 1:55 and the cycle ends at 2:10. That is 100 minutes of focus in each cycle.

Deep work: 45/15/30, long break after 3. Focus at 0:00, 1:00 and 2:00, the long break at 2:45, and one full cycle takes 3:15, with 135 minutes of focus.

Limits and tips

• Focus can be 1 to 180 minutes, short breaks 1 to 60, long breaks 1 to 120, and the long break can come after 1 to 12 sessions.
• Closing or reloading the tab stops the timer and clears the count.