I used to sit down to work for 8 hours and accomplish maybe 45 minutes of real output.

The rest? Email. Slack. Twitter. “Quick” YouTube videos. Reorganizing my desktop icons for the third time that week.

I wasn’t lazy. I just couldn’t focus.

The Pomodoro revelation

Someone told me about the Pomodoro technique. 25 minutes of focused work. 5 minute break. Repeat.

Sounded too simple. Almost insulting. “You’re telling me I can’t focus for 25 minutes?”

I couldn’t.

The first day I tried it, I failed three Pomodoros before noon. My brain physically revolted against sustained attention. It wanted to check things. Constantly.

But I kept going. And something clicked.

By week two, I was completing 8-10 Pomodoros a day. That’s 3-4 hours of actual focused work. More than I’d done in a single day in years.

Every timer app missed the point

I tried a bunch of Pomodoro apps. They were either:

  • Too complicated. I don’t need Pomodoro + habit tracking + journaling + meditation + goal setting in one app.
  • Too ugly. If I’m staring at a timer for 25 minutes, it shouldn’t look like it was designed in 2003.
  • Too needy. Notifications asking me to rate the app. Popups about premium features. Focus-destroying interruptions in a focus app. Ironic.

I just wanted a beautiful timer that got out of my way.

So I built FocusTimer

The rules were simple:

  1. Start a focus session in one tap
  2. Customize work/break durations
  3. Track sessions so you can see your progress
  4. Never interrupt the user. Ever.

No accounts. No social features. No AI. No subscription.

Just a timer that helps you do your best work.

What I learned

Focus is a muscle. It atrophies if you don’t use it. And most of us have let it waste away.

The Pomodoro technique isn’t magic. It’s just training wheels for your attention span. You’re teaching your brain that it can, in fact, sustain focus for 25 minutes.

Once you can do 25, you can do 50. Then 90. Then you’re in flow states you forgot existed.

FocusTimer is launching soon. Join the waitlist if you want early access.

Your distraction ends here.

— Dolce