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🍅 Pomodoro Timer

Mind Your Time is our advanced Pomodoro timer feature that helps you maintain focus, track productivity, and work more efficiently. This guide covers everything you need to know about using the timer effectively.

Overview​

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that uses a timer to break work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Mind Your Time enhances this classic technique with modern features like task integration, analytics, and household collaboration.

Getting Started​

Accessing the Timer​

  1. Click on the Timer icon in the main navigation menu
  2. Or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/Cmd + T to quickly open the timer

Basic Timer Operation​

  1. Start a Session: Click the play button to begin a 25-minute work session
  2. Pause/Resume: Click pause to temporarily stop the timer, and play to resume
  3. Stop Session: Click the stop button to end the current session early
  4. Skip to Break: Use the skip forward button to move directly to your break

Timer Settings​

Customizing Your Experience​

Access settings by clicking the gear icon in the timer interface:

  • Work Duration: Default 25 minutes (adjustable from 1-60 minutes)
  • Short Break: Default 5 minutes (adjustable from 1-15 minutes)
  • Long Break: Default 15 minutes (adjustable from 5-30 minutes)
  • Sessions Until Long Break: Default 4 sessions
  • Auto-Start Breaks: Automatically begin break timers
  • Auto-Start Work: Automatically start next work session after break
  • Notifications: Enable/disable sound notifications
  • Notification Sound: Choose from different alert sounds

Saving Settings​

Your settings are automatically saved and synced across all your devices.

Task Integration​

Linking Tasks to Sessions​

  1. Click on "Select a task" before starting your timer
  2. Search or browse your existing tasks
  3. Select the task you'll be working on
  4. All time spent will be automatically tracked against this task

Working Without a Task​

You can also use the timer without selecting a specific task. This is perfect for:

  • General focus time
  • Reading or learning
  • Administrative work
  • Planning sessions

Analytics Dashboard​

Accessing Your Stats​

Click the Analytics button to view your productivity insights:

Overview Tab​

  • Total Sessions: Complete count of all your Pomodoro sessions
  • Focus Time: Total minutes spent in focused work
  • Completion Rate: Percentage of sessions completed vs started
  • Daily Average: Average number of sessions per day

Charts Tab​

  • Daily Focus Time: Bar chart showing productivity trends
  • Focus Categories: Pie chart breaking down time by task type

Productivity Tab​

  • Heatmap: Visual representation of your most productive hours
  • Shows intensity of focus across each hour of the day
  • Helps identify your peak performance times

Streaks Tab​

  • Current Streak: Consecutive days with completed sessions
  • Longest Streak: Your best run of productive days
  • Calendar View: Visual streak tracking by day

Date Range Selection​

  • Last 7 Days: Quick view of your recent week
  • Last 30 Days: Monthly productivity overview

Kid Mode​

Activating Kid Mode​

Kid Mode transforms the timer into a fun, engaging experience for children:

  1. Click the Baby icon in the timer interface
  2. The interface switches to a colorful, animated display

Kid Mode Features​

  • Animated Tomato Character: Friendly companion that fills up as time progresses
  • Encouraging Messages: Positive reinforcement throughout the session
  • Celebration Animations: Fun confetti and sounds when completing sessions
  • Simplified Controls: Large, easy-to-understand buttons
  • Shorter Default Times: More appropriate session lengths for children

Customizing Kid Mode​

Parents can adjust:

  • Timer duration (default 15 minutes)
  • Break length (default 3 minutes)
  • Sound effects volume
  • Celebration intensity

Real-Time Collaboration​

Household Timer Sync​

When multiple household members are using timers:

  • See who's currently in a focus session
  • Get notifications when family members complete sessions
  • View shared household productivity stats

WebSocket Integration​

All timer updates happen in real-time:

  • Instant synchronization across devices
  • No refresh needed to see updates
  • Low latency for smooth experience

Keyboard Shortcuts​

Make your workflow even faster with these shortcuts:

  • Space: Start/Pause timer
  • S: Stop current session
  • N: Skip to next session (break or work)
  • T: Open task selector
  • A: Open analytics
  • Esc: Close any open dialog

Tips for Success​

Best Practices​

  1. Start Small: If 25 minutes feels too long, start with 15-minute sessions
  2. Honor Your Breaks: Always take breaks to maintain long-term productivity
  3. Remove Distractions: Close unnecessary tabs and silence notifications
  4. Track Everything: Link tasks to build accurate time tracking data
  5. Review Weekly: Check analytics every week to understand your patterns

Common Workflows​

Deep Work Sessions​

  1. Select your most important task
  2. Set timer to 45-50 minutes for deep work
  3. Take a 10-minute break
  4. Review what you accomplished

Study Sessions​

  1. Break material into chunks
  2. Use 25-minute sessions for active learning
  3. Use 5-minute breaks for quick review
  4. Long break every 4 sessions for consolidation

Creative Work​

  1. Use shorter 15-minute sessions for brainstorming
  2. Longer 45-minute sessions for execution
  3. Walking breaks to boost creativity

Troubleshooting​

Timer Not Starting​

  • Check your internet connection
  • Ensure you're logged in
  • Try refreshing the page
  • Clear browser cache if issues persist

Notifications Not Working​

  • Check browser notification permissions
  • Ensure notifications are enabled in settings
  • Test with a short 1-minute timer
  • Try a different notification sound

Sessions Not Saving​

  • Check that you're online
  • Don't close the browser during active sessions
  • Ensure cookies are enabled
  • Contact support if data is consistently missing

Premium Features​

Premium subscribers enjoy:

  • Unlimited Analytics History: View data beyond 30 days
  • Advanced Filtering: Filter stats by task, project, or tag
  • Detailed Reports: Export session data for external analysis
  • Custom Notification Sounds: Upload your own audio alerts
  • Priority Support: Get help faster when you need it

Privacy & Data​

  • All timer data is private to you and your household
  • Sessions are encrypted in transit and at rest
  • You can delete your timer history at any time
  • No timer data is shared with third parties

Voice Commands 🎤​

Natural Language Control​

Mind Your Time now supports voice commands, making it easier than ever to start focus sessions hands-free. Simply speak naturally and the AI will understand your intent.

Voice Conversations with Kaia (New!)​

Beyond task-specific commands, you can now have full conversations with Kaia using voice:

  • Click the microphone button in the top navigation
  • Ask anything about your tasks, schedule, or productivity
  • Get spoken responses - Kaia talks back to you
  • Context is remembered - have natural, flowing conversations

Example Voice Conversations:

  • "What should I focus on right now?"
  • "How much time have I spent on tasks today?"
  • "Help me plan my afternoon"
  • "What's my productivity streak?"

The voice conversation feature maintains full context across the conversation (up to 20 turns), making it perfect for longer planning sessions or getting comprehensive help from Kaia.

Starting a Pomodoro with Voice​

Say things like:

  • "Start a Pomodoro for [task name]" - Begin a focus session for a specific task
  • "I want to focus on [task name] for 45 minutes" - Custom duration sessions
  • "Start working on the quarterly report" - Natural task references
  • "Begin a deep work session for coding" - Describe your work naturally

Task Completion via Voice​

Mark tasks complete with simple voice commands:

  • "I finished [task name]" - Mark a task as complete
  • "Done with the presentation" - Natural completion statements
  • "Completed my morning routine" - Works with habits and tasks

How Voice Commands Work​

  1. High Confidence Matching: The AI uses fuzzy matching with an 80% confidence threshold to find the right task
  2. Task Suggestions: If the task isn't found, you'll get suggestions for similar tasks
  3. Context Awareness: Voice commands integrate with your current activity and schedule
  4. Household Broadcasting: When you start a voice-initiated session, household members receive real-time notifications

Voice Command Features​

  • Smart Duration Detection: Automatically detects duration mentions (15 minutes, 1 hour, etc.)
  • Task Type Recognition: Works with regular tasks, habits, and household chores
  • Fuzzy Matching: Handles variations in how you phrase task names
  • Confidence Scoring: Shows match confidence to ensure accuracy
  • Fallback Suggestions: Provides alternatives if no strong match is found

Activity Context Detection 🎯​

Understanding Your Work Pattern​

Mind Your Time now intelligently detects your current activity to provide contextual suggestions and optimize your productivity.

Activity Types Detected​

Active Pomodoro 🍅​

When you're already in a focus session:

  • Shows current task and time remaining
  • Provides quick pause/resume controls
  • Tracks session progress

In Meeting 📅​

Detected from calendar events:

  • Suggests postponing focus sessions
  • Shows meeting details
  • Provides "focus after" quick actions

Deep Work Window 💼​

Prime productivity hours (morning slots):

  • Recommends high-priority tasks
  • Suggests longer focus sessions (45-60 minutes)
  • Highlights critical work

Morning Routine 🌅​

Early hours (6 AM - 9 AM):

  • Emphasizes habit completion
  • Suggests routine tasks
  • Promotes healthy start-of-day activities

Task Just Completed ✅​

Right after finishing a task:

  • Celebrates your achievement
  • Suggests next logical task
  • Recommends break if needed
  • Shows task completion details

Free Time ☕​

No active commitments:

  • Suggests starting a new task
  • Recommends habit practice
  • Provides flexible options

Smart Context Suggestions​

Based on your current activity, you'll receive:

  • Personalized task recommendations prioritized by context
  • Optimal session duration suggestions
  • Break timing based on work intensity
  • Next action guidance

Priority-Based Detection​

Activity detection uses a priority system:

  1. Active Pomodoro (highest priority)
  2. In Meeting (calendar events)
  3. Time-based activities (Morning Routine, Deep Work Window)
  4. Default state (Free Time)

Real-Time WebSocket Events 🔄​

Household Synchronization​

When using voice commands or starting sessions, household members receive instant notifications:

Voice Session Started Event​

Broadcasts when someone starts a focus session via voice:

  • Shows who started the session
  • Displays task being worked on
  • Shows session duration
  • Includes confidence score of voice match

Context Change Events​

Real-time updates when activity context changes:

  • Notifies household of meeting attendance
  • Shares deep work window status
  • Broadcasts task completions
  • Synchronizes focus session states

Suggestion Ready Events​

When AI generates smart suggestions:

  • Shares recommended next tasks
  • Highlights potential conflicts
  • Provides household-wide coordination

WebSocket Features​

  • Instant Updates: No page refresh needed
  • Low Latency: Real-time synchronization
  • Household-Wide: All members see updates
  • Conflict Detection: Prevents scheduling conflicts
  • Session Visibility: See who's focused on what

Smart Suggestions 💡​

Context-Aware Recommendations​

The briefing page now shows dynamic suggestions based on your current activity:

When You Complete a Task​

Immediately after task completion, you'll see:

  • Completion Celebration: Visual confirmation with details
  • Suggested Next Tasks: AI-recommended follow-up work
  • Quick Actions:
    • Start suggested task immediately
    • Browse all tasks
    • Take a break
    • View completion details

Task Just Completed State​

Special UI mode activated when you finish work:

  • Shows what you just completed
  • Displays completion time
  • Suggests next task based on:
    • Task dependencies
    • Priority levels
    • Estimated duration
    • Your current energy/focus state
  • One-click actions to continue working or rest

Activity-Based Suggestions​

Different activity types show different suggestions:

  • Deep Work Window: High-priority, complex tasks
  • Morning Routine: Quick habit completions
  • Free Time: Flexible task options
  • After Meetings: Lighter, administrative work

Future Enhancements​

We're constantly improving Mind Your Time. Coming soon:

  • Voice control for timer operations (pause, resume, stop)
  • Multi-language voice command support
  • Voice-based focus session customization
  • Advanced activity pattern learning
  • AI-powered optimal session length recommendations based on task type

Get Started Today​

Ready to boost your productivity? Start your first Pomodoro session now and discover how Mind Your Time can help you achieve more while feeling less stressed.

Need help? Contact our support team or check out our video tutorials.