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Timers and Focus Mode

Focus Mode in Super Productivity addresses a central challenge of task-based work: maintaining sustained attention and structured work sessions in the face of distractions and context switching. The app is designed to help you stay organized and focused through timeboxing, time tracking, break reminders, anti-procrastination features, and a Pomodoro-style timer—all working together to support healthy, productive habits. Timers and focus are treated as a first-class feature: they have dedicated configuration, distinct modes with clear behavior, and deep integration with task tracking and metrics. Understanding what problem Focus Mode solves, how it relates to time-boxing and deep work, what the app assumes about focus when using timers, and how timers influence your behavior helps you use it effectively.

You can enter Focus Mode from the focus button in the main header on both desktop and mobile layouts. The keyboard shortcut is listed in 3.03-Keyboard-Shortcuts.

For how time is logged when you track a task, see 4.14-How-Time-Is-Logged. Focus Mode settings (automatic start from task tracking, tick sound, preparation screen, breaks, etc.) are in 3.02-Settings-and-Preferences.

What Problem Does Focus Mode Solve?

Productivity loss from distractions and context switching is something the app explicitly tries to reduce. Focus Mode gives you:

• Structured work sessions — A timer and clear “work” vs “break” phases so you can commit to a block of time instead of working in an unstructured way.
• Timeboxing — Fixed or flexible time boxes so you can plan how long you work and when you rest.
• Awareness — Optional tick sounds and session-completion notifications so you stay present and know when a block has ended.
• Integration with task tracking — Focus sessions start and pause in sync with the task you’re tracking, so “focus time” and “task time” stay aligned.

Completed focus sessions are also logged per day, so the daily summary and the metrics view show your focused time next to your total work time, and the daily summary asks for your own impact and energy ratings. That encourages you to reflect not only on how much you worked but on how you worked: sustained focus vs fragmented attention.

How Focus Mode Relates to Time-Boxing and Deep Work

Focus Mode implements three distinct time-boxing strategies, each aligned with different productivity approaches:

Pomodoro Mode

Pomodoro is classic time-boxing with fixed work and break lengths:

• Work sessions — A set duration (often 25 minutes by default; configurable). You work until the timer reaches that duration.
• Short breaks — After each work session, a short break (often 5 minutes).
• Long breaks — After every few cycles (often 4), a longer break (e.g. 15 minutes) to recover.

The app can automatically start the next work session after a break, so you can run multiple cycles in a row. Pomodoro is well suited to disciplined, interval-based work: clear boundaries, regular rest, and a predictable rhythm.

Flowtime Mode

Flowtime supports open-ended deep work without a fixed session length:

• No fixed duration — Sessions have no preset end; the timer runs until you choose to stop.
• No automatic completion — The app never ends a Flowtime session by itself. That avoids interrupting you when you’re in flow.
• No automatic breaks — Breaks are not started by the app; you start them when you want. That keeps you in control of when to step away.

Flowtime is for when you want sustained focus without a hard stop: you start the session, work until you’re done or need a break, then end it manually. The timer still tracks how long you’ve been working so you can see elapsed time.

Countdown Mode

Countdown is custom-duration time-boxing:

• You set the length — Each time you start a session, you choose how long it will be (or use a suggested/default value, e.g. your last used duration).
• Session ends when the timer reaches that duration and stops — Same completion logic as Pomodoro for work sessions, but with a duration you pick per session.
• No automatic breaks — Unlike Pomodoro, the app does not auto-start a break after a Countdown session; you decide what to do next.

Countdown is for when you want time-boxing with flexibility: e.g. “I’ll focus for 45 minutes on this” or “I’ll do 20 minutes and then switch.”

What the App Assumes About Focus When Using Timers

Several assumptions drive how timers behave.

When a Session Is Considered Complete

A work session is treated as complete when:

1. Elapsed time reaches the set duration (for modes that have a duration: Pomodoro and Countdown).
2. The timer has stopped — Completion is processed when the timer is no longer running, not only when the number crosses the threshold. That keeps behavior consistent regardless of how often the timer is updated internally.

Elapsed time is always calculated from when the session started to now, so the duration is accurate even if update intervals vary. For Flowtime, there is no set duration, so the session never completes automatically; you must end it yourself. That preserves the “no interruption” design of Flowtime.

Mode-Specific Completion Behavior

• Pomodoro — When the work timer reaches the session length, the session completes and the app can automatically start a break (short or long, depending on cycle). With Pomodoro overtime enabled (the default on new installs), the timer keeps running instead until you end the session. After the break, it can auto-start the next work session.
• Countdown — When the timer reaches your chosen duration and stops, the session completes. Because there is no automatic break or next session, the app makes sure it doesn’t end silently. If the focus overlay is open you land on the Session Done screen. If you’d hidden the overlay and moved on, a dismissible banner appears instead (so your work isn’t interrupted), with a shortcut back to the Session Done screen; if you’ve switched away from the app entirely, you also get a system notification.
• Flowtime — The session never auto-completes. You decide when to stop; there are no automatic breaks.

So “session done” means something different per mode: in Pomodoro it triggers a break (and possibly the next session); in Countdown it just ends; in Flowtime it only ends when you say so.

How Timers Influence Your Behavior

Timers affect how you work through several mechanisms.

Auditory Feedback

When enabled in settings, the app can play a tick sound during work sessions (typically once per second, at a reduced volume so it’s not intrusive). That keeps you subtly aware that time is passing and that you’re in a focus block, without requiring you to look at the screen.

Session Completion Notifications

When a work session or break completes, the app can:

• Play a sound — So you notice even if the window isn’t focused.
• Send a system notification — When a Countdown session completes and you’ve switched away from the app, a cross-platform OS notification (desktop, web, and mobile) reports it, so you’re alerted even when the sound is off. While the app is focused it’s skipped, since the on-screen surfacing below is alert enough. In the web app you can also opt in to a browser notification when a Pomodoro session or any break ends (see 3.02-Settings-and-Preferences#focus-mode-this-device). On iOS the app is suspended in the background, so it schedules the notification ahead of time for when the running Countdown, Pomodoro session or break is due to end; pausing, stopping or changing the duration moves or removes it. iOS asks for permission to send notifications the first time, if you have not granted it yet. The notification is silent when the sound volume is 0, and while the app is open you get the on-screen alert instead.
• Flash the window — On desktop, the app flashes its taskbar or dock icon so you see that the session ended. It doesn't take focus away from the app you're working in.
• Surface the Session Done screen or a banner — When a Countdown session completes with no automatic follow-up, the Session Done screen shows if the focus overlay was open; if it was hidden, a dismissible banner appears instead so you aren’t yanked out of what you were doing. Either way the session never just stops silently.
• Show visual feedback — e.g. a progress bar or on-screen indication that the block is done.

That multi-channel feedback makes it clear when to switch from work to break or from break back to work, or when a Countdown session has ended.

Deep Integration with Task Tracking

Focus Mode and time tracking work together in both directions:

• Task tracking → Focus — When you start tracking a task, the app resumes a paused focus session. If Start a focus session when I start tracking a task is enabled, tracking a task can also start a new focus session. When you’re on a break and you start tracking a task, the app can skip the break and start work so the session aligns with the task.
• Focus → Task tracking — Starting a Focus session starts tracking its selected task. When you pause the session (e.g. for a break), the app can pause task tracking too, so time isn’t logged during the break. When you resume, both resume.

When you assign untracked time from the tracking reminder to a task, that time is also subtracted from the remaining Pomodoro work session. This applies to a session resumed or automatically started by tracking the task; it does not start a session when automatic start is disabled, or change Countdown and Flowtime timers.

Choosing Focus session from a task's context menu starts a session right away in the mode you used last, so there is no setup step. In Countdown mode the session lasts as long as the task's remaining estimate when that is shorter than your usual countdown. If a session or break is already running or paused, or you turned on the preparation screen, the overlay opens as usual instead.

Before a session starts, choosing a task in the Focus Mode overlay only prepares that task for the session; it does not begin logging task time. Pressing Start activates the selected task and the Focus timer together. Closing the overlay before pressing Start leaves any existing task tracking unchanged.

That creates a bidirectional link: starting or pausing the task affects the focus session, and starting or ending a focus session (or break) can affect what’s being tracked. The result is that “focus time” and “logged task time” stay in sync.

Why Focus Is a First-Class Feature

Focus Mode is not a minor add-on; it’s designed as a core part of the workflow.

Dedicated Design and State

Focus Mode has its own timer state (running, started-at time, elapsed, duration, work vs break), UI screens (task selection, duration selection, preparation, main timer, session done, break), and session metadata (mode, cycle, last completed duration, paused task). The timer is the single source of truth for “how long has this session been running?” so the UI and any logic that depends on session length stay consistent.

Strategy Per Mode

Each mode (Pomodoro, Flowtime, Countdown) has defined behavior: different session lengths, different break rules, different completion behavior. The app doesn’t treat them as “one timer with different numbers”; it treats them as distinct strategies. So Pomodoro always has breaks and cycles; Flowtime never auto-completes; Countdown always lets you set the duration. That makes each mode predictable and purposeful.

Configuration and Integration

Focus Mode has multiple dedicated settings (e.g. automatically start Focus when task tracking begins, show the preparation screen, play ambient sound at its own volume, pause task tracking during breaks, and enable Pomodoro overtime). Those options show that focus is meant to be configurable to your workflow. The feature is also woven into the app: session lifecycle (start, tick, complete), break handling, task-tracking sync, and metrics all depend on focus state. So focus is central to the workflow, not a side panel you can ignore.

Sustainable Productivity as a Goal

The design treats focus as a skill to be developed and maintained. That’s why the app offers:

• Structured modes — So you can choose a rhythm (Pomodoro, Flowtime, Countdown) that fits how you work.
• Preparation phases — So you can mentally commit before the timer starts (unless you skip them).
• Daily summary — So you can look back at focused time alongside your own impact and energy ratings.

Summary

• Focus Mode tackles sustained attention and structured sessions; it’s a first-class feature with its own state, modes, and settings.
• Three modes: Pomodoro (fixed work/break/cycles), Flowtime (open-ended, no auto-completion), Countdown (custom duration per session).
• Session completion: For Pomodoro and Countdown, a work session completes when elapsed ≥ duration and the timer stops; Flowtime never auto-completes.
• Behavior: Ambient sounds, session-done notifications, and synchronized task tracking tie focus to how you actually work; automatically starting Focus from task tracking is optional.

Related

• 4.14-How-Time-Is-Logged — How task time tracking works and how it syncs with Focus Mode
• 3.02-Settings-and-Preferences — Focus Mode options (sync, tick sound, preparation, breaks)
• 4.08-Time-Estimates — How estimates and logged time support planning and review