Press Start and this timer counts down two minutes. Two minutes is the threshold of David Allen's two-minute rule, the starting size James Clear recommends for a new habit, and the brushing time dentists suggest: small enough to say yes to, long enough to matter.
In Getting Things Done, David Allen suggests that any action taking less than two minutes should be done immediately, because tracking it would cost more than doing it. Set the timer when you sort your inbox or your to-do list: if the alarm rings before you finish, the task was not a two-minute task, and it goes into a proper work session instead.
In Atomic Habits, James Clear describes the other two-minute rule: shrink a new habit until it takes two minutes to do. Read one page, do one push-up, write one sentence. The point is to make starting automatic before worrying about doing more. A visible countdown helps on days when even two minutes feels like a lot.
A focus session goes better when the next step is already written down. Spending two minutes on that before starting a 25-minute session is a small investment: close the tabs you will not need, put the phone away, write the first action in one line. Pomodorian's guide on the two-minute rule shows how the two ideas fit together.
Two ideas share the name: David Allen's rule (do anything that takes under two minutes immediately) and James Clear's rule (start a new habit with a two-minute version of it).
Two minutes, twice a day, is the common recommendation from dental associations such as the American Dental Association.
Yes, in the mobile browser. While the countdown runs, the page keeps the screen awake where the browser supports it, so it does not lock halfway through.
Pomodorian is a free Pomodoro timer: focus and break cycles, an AI task planner, ambient sounds and focus stats. No account: your tasks, settings and stats stay in your browser.
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