Productivity
Break Timer
Breaks need an end as much as work does. Set five, ten or fifteen minutes and come back when it sounds.
Break Timer
5:00
Ready
- Ends at
- —
- Elapsed
- 00:00
Settings
Space start or pause · R reset · F full screen
What this one is for
- Stops the five that becomes forty
- Stand up and leave the screen
- Pairs with any focus block
A break without an end is not a break, it is a drift. Five minutes standing away from a screen restores more than twenty-five minutes of scrolling at one. It opens at 5:00; change that with the chips under the dial.
Worth knowing
- A break without an end is just a slow slide into the afternoon.
- Leaving the screen matters more than the length.
- Five minutes after a short block, fifteen to thirty after ninety.
Getting the most from the break timer
- Name the task in one sentenceWith a verb in it. If it will not fit in a sentence, the task is too big for one block.
- Start before you feel readyMotivation follows starting, not the other way round. The countdown is the commitment device.
- Write the next action before you stopTen seconds now saves four minutes of reorientation next time.
Related timers
Questions people ask
How long should a work break be?
Five minutes after a twenty-five minute block, fifteen to thirty after ninety minutes. What matters most is leaving the screen rather than switching tabs.
What if I finish before the alarm?
Use the remaining time to set up the next block: name the task and open what you need. That is the cheapest minute you will spend all day.
Does the break timer work on a phone?
Yes, in any mobile browser. It asks to keep the screen awake while it runs so the alarm is not missed.