PIPTIM · ALWAYS ON TOP
25 Minute Timer
One focus session, the length the pomodoro technique settled on.
Countdown timer
Tap the time to change it
PIPTIM · ALWAYS ON TOP
One focus session, the length the pomodoro technique settled on.
Tap the time to change it
The number comes from Francesco Cirillo timing his study sessions with a tomato-shaped kitchen timer in the late 1980s. The reasoning is plain: short enough that starting is not intimidating, long enough to actually get into one thing.
At this length, sessions fail almost entirely because attention slips into another window. With the PiP timer open, moving to another tab does not hide the fact that a session is running.
For repeated work and rest rather than a single session, the 25/5 focus cycle chains them automatically.
This is a plain countdown that stops after 25 minutes. To have the break follow automatically, use Pomodoro 25/5. For a single session, or when you want to decide the break length as you go, this page is simpler.
Stopping unfinished is normal. Write one line about where you are, take the five-minute break, and start the next 25. In the Pomodoro method the session is a unit of attention, not a unit of work.
It is short enough to start without dread and long enough that most people can get through it without drifting. The Pomodoro Technique article covers the reasoning.