Deep work timer
For work that needs more than 25 minutes: pick 52/17, 50/10 or a 90-minute block, press start, and take a real break when it rings.
Space starts and pauses.
Timer settings
Four ways to split a day
| Focus / break | Where it comes from | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 25 / 5 | The Pomodoro Technique | Getting started, admin, anything you're dreading |
| 50 / 10 | A double Pomodoro | Writing, study, most knowledge work |
| 52 / 17 | From DeskTime's 2014 study of its most productive users | Steady days of focused work with real breaks |
| 90 / 20 | One ultradian cycle | Hard problems: code, design, deep reading |
Longer sessions, for deeper work
Twenty-five minutes is a great way to start a task, but it can end just as you're getting somewhere. Hard, creative work has a warm-up: loading the problem into your head takes ten or fifteen minutes, and the productive part comes after. Longer sessions give that part room. The trade is that the breaks need to be real, away from the screen, or the next session starts tired.
Our posts on the 52/17 rule and 90-minute focus blocks go into the research, and the Pomodoro calculator plans a whole day in any of these intervals.
What to do in the break
- Stand up and move, even just to the kitchen and back.
- Look at something far away: a window, the end of a corridor.
- Get outside if you can. A short walk restores attention better than a phone does.
- Skip the feeds. Scrolling feels like rest but keeps your attention busy.
Questions
What is the 52/17 rule?
Work for 52 minutes, then take a 17-minute break. It comes from a 2014 analysis by DeskTime, a time-tracking app, of how its most productive 10% of users worked: on average, about 52 minutes on followed by 17 off.
Why 90 minutes?
Sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitman proposed that the roughly 90-minute cycles of sleep continue through the day as a basic rest-activity cycle. The evidence for a strict daytime rhythm is mixed, but 90 minutes is a good upper limit for one stretch of hard focus, and studies of expert performers found they practised in sessions of about that length.
Which interval should I use?
Start with 50/10 for normal work. If you struggle to start, drop to 25/5; if you're regularly in the middle of something when the timer rings, try 90/20. The best interval is the longest one you can actually focus through.
Are my settings saved?
Yes, in this browser, separately from the Pomodoro timer's. Open Timer settings to change the lengths, the long break, the chime and notifications.
Further reading
- How to study for long hours without burning outHow to study all day and still learn: work in blocks with real breaks, do the hard subject first, nap and use caffeine wisely, and protect your sleep.
- How long should you study before taking a break?How long study sessions should be, how long the breaks, and how many hours a day is realistic, with a guide by type of study and what research says.
- The 52/17 rule: work 52 minutes, rest 17The 52/17 rule comes from DeskTime's study of its most productive users. Where it comes from, how it compares with the Pomodoro Technique, and how to try it.
More free tools
- Pomodoro timer25 minutes of focus, then a break. With a seat-belt chime.
- Pomodoro calculatorHow many Pomodoros your tasks take, and when you'll finish.
- Eisenhower matrixDo, schedule, delegate or drop: sort your to-do list.
- Meeting cost calculatorWhat a meeting costs in salary and in lost focus time.
- Context switching calculatorHow much focus your interruptions cost you in a year.
- Reading time calculatorHow long a text takes to read, skim or say out loud.