Pomodoro Timer

Free Pomodoro timer and study timer: 25-minute focus sessions, 5-minute breaks, a long break every four, sound and alerts. Works in a background tab.

Free, no account and no AI. The timer runs in your browser and keeps time from the clock, so it stays right in a background tab. Your settings and today's session count are saved only in this browser.

How it works

1. Press Start for a 25-minute focus session. Work on one task until the timer rings.
2. Take the 5-minute break when it starts. After every fourth focus session you get a 15-minute long break.
3. Change the lengths, the long-break interval and auto-start under Settings. Turn on sound and, if you like, a browser notification for the end of each session.
4. The counter shows how many focus sessions you have finished today.

Study timer that keeps time in a background tab

Browsers slow down timers in tabs you are not looking at, so a timer that counts seconds can fall behind while you work in another window. This one records the moment each session ends and works out the time left from your device's clock, so it is correct when you switch back, and the alert comes as soon as the browser lets the page run. If your computer sleeps through the end of a session, the timer catches up when it wakes.

What the Pomodoro Technique is

The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, while he was a university student. It is named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used; pomodoro is Italian for tomato. Cirillo describes it in his book The Pomodoro Technique.

The method is simple: choose a task, work on it for one pomodoro of 25 minutes without switching to anything else, then take a short break of about 5 minutes. After four pomodoros, take a longer break of about 15 to 30 minutes. If something interrupts you, note it down and come back to it later rather than breaking off mid-session.

How to use a Pomodoro timer for studying

• Decide the task before you press Start. Read chapter 4 and write five flashcards is easier to finish in one session than study biology.
• Keep a scrap of paper next to you. When an unrelated thought or a to-do comes up, write it down and keep going.
• Use the breaks as breaks. Stand up, get water, look away from the screen. Scrolling a phone often runs past the five minutes.
• Adjust the lengths if 25 minutes does not suit the work. Some people use 50 minutes of focus and 10 of rest for writing or problem sets; the settings take any length.
• Plan the day in sessions. Four focus sessions with breaks is roughly two hours; you can put them straight into a weekly study schedule template.

Settings, sound and notifications

• Focus, short break and long break lengths are in minutes. The long break comes after every fourth focus session by default; you can change the number.
• Auto-start breaks starts each break as soon as a focus session ends. Auto-start focus starts the next focus session after a break; it is off by default so a session never starts while you are away.
• Sound plays a short chime made in your browser when a session ends. Notifications show a system alert; your browser asks for permission first, and nothing is shown unless you allow it.
• Today's count resets at midnight on your device. Nothing about your sessions is sent to Scholarize.

Things to do in a focus session

Practice beats rereading. Turn your notes into questions with the quiz generator or the flashcard generator, or print paper cards with the printable flashcard maker. Taking notes in a lecture? The Cornell notes template leaves room to quiz yourself later.

Studying with friends? Study rooms on Scholarize have a shared Pomodoro timer, chat and a whiteboard for groups (free account). More free tools are on the tools page.

scholar.0xpi.com/tools/pomodoro-timer