Use This Free Pomodoro App to Stay Focused on Your Work
It can be difficult to complete an assignment at any time these days, especially if you work from home and are easily distracted by children, pets, or the temptation to browse social media. Mac users struggling to grab attention can try Tomato 2 , a free app that helps you stay focused and productive with the Tomato Technique .
The Pomodoro Technique divides your work into short time intervals (called “Pomodoro”), interspersed with short breaks. This chart is designed to train your brain for short periods of time and improve your concentration. We’ve covered the Pomodoro technique in detail, but here’s a quick overview of how it works in practice:
- Select a task.
- Set the Tomato (timer) to 25 minutes.
- Work on the assignment until the Tomato rings.
- Take a short break (5 minutes).
- Take a longer break (15-30 minutes) every four Pomodoros.
Tomato 2 (improved over the previous and much simpler Tomato One) is a Pomodoro timer that helps you manage those structured work intervals and breaks. It automatically adjusts for 25-minute focusing periods and 5-minute breaks, although you can customize your own times as well. If you are in shock when the timer goes off, it is possible to extend the operating period.
The sync mode settings also allow you to synchronize the timer with the clock (starting at: 00 and: 30 and breaks at: 25 and: 55), automatically start the next Pomodoro, or manually choose what to do next.
Other premium features include website blocking (so you don’t get distracted by your Twitter feed while you’re focused), as well as daily and weekly stats and goal setting so you can see how productive you’ve been over time. To use website blocking and weekly summary, you need to purchase the Pro package for $ 4.99.
Tomato 2 is only available for Mac (there is no iOS version) and you must be using macOS 10.15 or newer.