Focus on one task
Run a task's estimate as Pomodoro cycles or one timeboxed block, with the whole screen given to that task.
A Pomodoro is a block of focused work followed by a short break, 25 and 5 minutes by default. A timebox is one block of time you give a task and stop at. tidystation runs either one on the task itself and logs the minutes to it.
How do I start a timer?
Press the play button on a task, or press T on its row. If the task has no estimate, pick one (15m, 25m, 45m, 90m or your own); it's saved as the task's estimate. Then choose how to run it:
- Pomodoros: work sessions with breaks between them, 25/5 by default.
- In one go: one block for the whole estimate.
How are the Pomodoros sized?
The estimate is divided into work sessions, and what's left becomes a final wrap-up. A 1h50 estimate runs as 4 cycles of 25/5 and a 10-minute wrap-up. Sessions move on by themselves, with a chime.
Change the lengths in Settings › Preferences › Pomodoro: work sessions from 15 to 60 minutes, breaks from 3 to 15.
What does focus mode do?
Focus mode opens when a timer starts and gives the whole screen to the task: its steps, the time left and the controls.
| Control | Does |
|---|---|
| +5, +15 | Adds minutes to the session |
| Pause | Holds the clock until you resume |
| Stop | Ends the session |
| Complete, or Enter | Finishes the task; during a break, Enter starts the next block |
| Minimize, or Esc | Drops to a small dock; the timer keeps running |
While a timer runs, Enter works from anywhere outside a text field, even with focus mode minimized. The dock's ⤢ button opens focus mode again.
What if a thought interrupts me?
Type it into the capture line at the bottom of focus mode. It becomes a task in your Inbox and waits in Triage, and the block keeps running. The capture line takes the text as it is, so #project or tomorrow isn't read there.
Can I run a timer without a task?
Yes. ⌘K › Focus now, untethered runs a 15, 25 or 50-minute Pomodoro, or a custom timebox, on no task in particular. Those minutes aren't tied to a task, so they don't count in Report.
Where do the focused minutes go?
To the task the timer ran on. Report adds them up by category for a day, week, month or year.
Next
- Run your day: the list you work down.
- Keyboard shortcuts: every key for the timer.