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The Pomodoro timer in the extension splits your work into sessions with a break after each one. It follows the Pomodoro® Technique, created by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. During a break, every open web page is covered by a break screen until the break is over.

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Start the timer

1

Open the popup

Click the Fibonax icon in the Chrome toolbar.
2

Click the clock

It’s the first icon at the top right. The Pomodoro timer opens.
3

Click Start

Your first session begins. While the timer runs, the clock icon shows the time left, like 24:59, or Break 4:12 during a break.
During a session, Pause stops the clock and Resume carries on where you left off. Stop ends the timer.

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How a block runs

A block is a row of work sessions. A short break follows each session. After the last session of the block comes a long break, and then the block is done. Click Start again for another block. A chime sounds when a session or a break ends.

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The break screen

When a break starts, every open web page is covered by the break screen. It shows the time left and one idea for the break, like Get some fresh air or Do 20 push-ups. Social media and the phone are off limits, except to call your mum. The page underneath takes no clicks and no typing. The screen lifts by itself when the break is over. Skip this break ends the break straight away. Skipped breaks are counted in the popup.
Chrome doesn’t let any extension cover its own pages, such as chrome:// addresses and the Chrome Web Store, or other programs on your computer. Those stay open during a break. A tab opened before Fibonax was installed or updated shows the break screen after you reload it.

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Need a break now

During a session, click I need a break now and choose how long it should be: 1 minute, 2 minutes or 5 minutes. The break screen comes up straight away. When it ends, the session carries on with the time it had left.

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See how your breaks go

Under Sessions and breaks, the popup counts, for today and for the last 7 days:
  • Sessions: work sessions finished.
  • Extra breaks: breaks asked for with I need a break now.
  • Skipped: breaks ended with Skip this break.
When extra and skipped breaks cut into many of your sessions, a line under the counts suggests a shorter work time. The counts stay on this computer.

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Change the timer

Under Timer, pick:
  • Work: 15 to 60 minutes.
  • Break: 3 to 15 minutes.
  • Sessions in a block: 2 to 10.
  • Long break at the end: 10 to 30 minutes.
  • Chime when a session or break ends: on or off.
Changes start with the next session or break. The settings apply to this computer only.

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Your detox day

Your detox day is your day off from screens and technology. Pick it under Detox day, below the timer: any day of the week. It’s Sunday until you pick another. Add pictures of what you love most, like your family, a sunset or your dog. If you try to work on your detox day, Fibonax shows them to you as a call to spend the day offline:
  • Click Start on your detox day and your pictures fill the popup, with Take the day off and Start anyway.
  • Every break on your detox day shows your pictures behind the break screen.
You can keep up to 5 pictures. One picture stays still. With more than one, they play as a gallery: arrows and dots below the picture move through them, and a button pauses the slideshow. The Left and Right arrow keys work too. The gallery moves on by itself every 7 seconds, and stops while you use its buttons. If your computer is set to reduce motion, it doesn’t move by itself.
1

Click Add pictures

It’s under Detox day in the Pomodoro timer. A Fibonax tab opens.
2

Click Choose pictures

Pick one or more JPG, PNG or WebP pictures from your computer. They are saved straight away.
3

Check them in the gallery

Use the arrows and dots to see them all. Add more pictures adds to the gallery. Remove this picture takes away the one on screen.
Back in the popup, Manage pictures opens the same tab. The pictures stay on this computer. Fibonax shrinks them to fit a screen and never uploads them.
A few websites have security rules that refuse pictures from extensions. There, the break screen shows without your pictures.

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Reminders

Two things bring a reminder to the Pomodoro timer and the break screen, saying your time is precious and to enjoy your life:
  • Working on your detox day. The timer runs on the day you picked.
  • 6 hours at the computer without a real stop. Stopping the timer, or pausing it, for more than 30 minutes counts as a real stop.
If your computer sleeps, or Chrome stays closed, for more than 30 minutes past the end of a session or a break, the timer stops by itself and the popup says so.

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Credit

The Pomodoro® Technique was created by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. The footer of the Pomodoro timer says so too. Pomodoro® is a registered trademark.