With more testing and tweaking, Cirillo settled on a structured framework for what he called the Pomodoro Technique (named after the Italian word for 'tomato,' in reference to his original kitchen timer).

And it worked-forcing himself to focus before rewarding himself with a break helped him get more done, even with the break time. After realizing he was getting distracted and not using his study time efficiently, he grabbed a tomato-shaped kitchen timer, set it for 10 minutes, and tried working solidly for those 10 minutes without doing anything else. That's what Francesco Cirillo discovered during his first year of college. But after a while, extra studying doesn't really help you're reading the same material, but your brain is so zapped that you won't retain anything. Everyone has their own tales of studying all night, downing dangerous levels of caffeine, and rubbing their eyes at lecture notes. In college, final exam season prompts a two-week-long cram session. Focus To-Do for managing multiple project.Engross for figuring out when you're the most focused.Be Focused for simple time management on Apple devices.focus booster for freelancers who work with multiple clients.Pomotodo for those undecided on Pomodoro.Marinara Timer for teams looking to complete pomodoros together.Pomodor for a web-based Pomodoro experience.KanbanFlow for combining Kanban and Pomodoro.PomoDoneApp for integrating Pomodoro with other apps.

Here's a brief look at how the technique works, along with our picks for the 10 best Pomodoro timer apps. A dedicated Pomodoro app removes the need to divide up your day manually-instead, it tells you exactly when to work and when to take a short break.

Pomodoro apps for pc