Focus Timer: Pomodoro and Deep Work Sessions

The Focus Timer runs work sessions with short breaks in between, using the Pomodoro method and similar patterns. Use it when you want to concentrate on one thing for a set time. It lives in the Daily practice group of the sidebar, under the name Focus Timer.

Choose a preset

Four presets are ready to use:

Click a preset to select it. Choose Custom to type your own numbers in the Work (min) and Break (min) fields.

Link a session to a habit (optional)

Under Session focus (optional) you can pick a habit. The list only shows active Timer habits, so a habit you track in minutes. The name of the habit appears above the timer while the session runs. Leave it on Custom if you don't want to link a habit.

Run a session

1. Pick a preset, or set Work (min) and Break (min) under Custom.
2. Optionally pick a habit under Session focus.
3. Click Start Focus.
4. When the work time ends, the break starts. Tips shown under the timer change with the phase: Stay focused! Avoid checking your phone or social media. during work, and a short walk or a drink of water during the break.
5. When a session is complete, the timer shows Complete! and Another Round starts the next one.

While a session runs, the main button changes to Pause. Click it again, labelled Resume, to continue. Reset stops the session and clears the current time.

What the totals mean

Below the session you see two numbers: the number of sessions and the min focused total. These totals cover this visit to the page. The page doesn't add them to any habit's history. The page says so in the note Totals cover this visit. Habit progress is not updated automatically.

Frequently asked questions