Pomodoro Timer

Cirillo's original method treats an incomplete Pomodoro as void — if an interruption cannot be deferred, he suggests noting it, dealing with it, then restarting the full Pomodoro. Modern practitioners often take a more pragmatic approach: pause the timer, handle the interruption, and resume. The key principle is to protect the work window from voluntary distractions.

The technique works best when you have a clear task for each session. Before starting, define specifically what you will accomplish — not 'work on project' but 'write the introduction section'. Using the task label field builds a log of your daily focus that helps identify which tasks consume the most sessions.

Yes. Desktop notifications appear even when the tab is in the background — you will need to grant notification permission when first asked. The timer continues running accurately in the background regardless of whether the tab is visible. Note that browser sound policies prevent audio from playing in background tabs in most browsers, so the desktop notification is the primary alert when working in another tab.

After each of the first three work sessions, you take a short break (default 5 minutes) — a brief mental reset. After the fourth work session, you take a long break (default 15 minutes) — a more thorough recovery before beginning the next set of four. The session counter dots below the timer show your progress through the current four-session cycle.

Yes. In Settings, you can change the work session (1–90 minutes), short break (1–30 minutes), long break (5–60 minutes), and the number of sessions before a long break (2–8). Find the intervals that work best for your attention span and task type.