Start the 20-minute countdown, then switch to the 5-minute break when the alarm rings. Twenty minutes is a gentle focus block: a little shorter than a classic Pomodoro, which makes it easier to begin when your attention is scattered or the task feels heavy.
The 25-minute Pomodoro is a convention, not a law. If you regularly drift off around the fifteenth minute, a 20-minute block that you actually finish is worth more than a 25-minute block you abandon. Many people who struggle with attention find shorter sessions easier to start, and the habit of finishing sessions matters more than their exact length.
Treat 20 minutes as a starting point. Once finishing a 20-minute block feels easy for a few days, try 25, then 30. The goal is to find the longest block you can complete without fighting yourself, not to impose a number. The break mode sits right next to the focus mode, so a full cycle is two clicks.
Reading is one of the first things to suffer when attention is fragmented. A 20-minute timer with your phone in another room is a simple way back into it: one chapter, one long article, one paper. Put on the fireplace or rain sound if silence makes you restless, and stop when the alarm rings so the next session starts with appetite.
For many tasks, yes. It is enough to get into a task and make real progress, and short enough to start without resistance. You can lengthen your sessions later.
About 5 minutes, which is the break mode built into this timer.
It opens Pomodorian and sets your saved focus length to 20 minutes, so every session there runs 20 minutes until you change it in the settings. The app adds a task list, an AI planner and focus statistics.
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.
Open the full Pomodoro timer