Pomodoro timer for ADHD brains

How to use this Pomodoro timer

1. Pick a rhythm. 15 / 5 if starting is the hard part today, 25 / 5 for the classic, 50 / 10 when you're already moving. Timer settings takes any focus length from 5 to 120 minutes.
2. Say what you're focusing on, if you like. It stays under the clock, so when your attention wanders off you can see what you sat down for.
3. Start focusing, or press the space bar. When the round ends, a soft chime plays and the break starts by itself. When the break ends, it chimes again and waits for you.
4. Bend it. Tap +5 min when the chime would wreck a good run. Skip when you're done early. End session when you're finished, and you'll see how long you focused.

It keeps time from the clock, so it stays right in a background tab, and if you close the page by accident it picks up where it should be when you come back.

Which length should you pick?

Rhythm	When it helps
15 / 5	Starting is the hard part. A short round is easier to say yes to, and once you've started, the round has done its job.
25 / 5	The original rhythm from the Pomodoro Technique: 25 minutes on, 5 off, a longer break after four rounds.
50 / 10	You're already in it and short breaks keep yanking you back out.
Your own	Anything from 5 to 120 minutes. The right length is the one you'll actually start.

When the Pomodoro rules don't fit an ADHD brain

The technique was built around a kitchen timer and a steady pace. ADHD attention doesn't do steady. Some days you can't start at all; other days you look up and three hours have gone. Neither is you doing it wrong. So the timer bends in three places.

The chime lands mid-flow

Classic Pomodoro says stop. If you've just got going after an hour of not starting, stopping is the worst thing you can do. Tap +5 min and keep going. You can always take the break next round.

The break turns into an hour

This is the more common one: you stand up for five minutes and come back at lunch. Leave "start breaks by themselves" on. The break then has a visible end and a chime, instead of an open-ended "I'll get back to it".

You can't start at all

Make the round smaller until it's silly not to. Fifteen minutes. Ten. Five. Short starts count, and the hardest minute is usually the first one. If that's the wall you keep hitting, there's more on how to start a task with ADHD, and on what to try when Pomodoro just doesn't work for you.

On your phone

This page works on a phone, but browsers pause pages when the screen locks, so the chime may not play until you unlock. For a timer that lives on the phone itself, we compared the best free Pomodoro apps for Android with no ads.