Pomodoro Technique: the 10 Best Apps for Efficiency

Jan 1 / C3pH

Introduction

The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management method that can help you fight procrastination and improve your daily productivity. The idea behind this method is simple: you set a timer for 25 minutes, work until the time is up, then take a 5-minute break - and repeat the process three more times, before taking a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. Easy, right? Well, think again.  

Many people find it difficult to use the Pomodoro Technique on a daily basis and are overwhelmed by the mountain of tasks on their to-do list. How can you use the Pomodoro Technique effectively to work more efficiently and organise your time better?

In this article, we present a list of apps that will help you in your day-to-day work and enable you to use the Pomodoro Technique easily.

Why use the Pomodoro Technique

Although it seems very simple, the Pomodoro Technique is really effective. A 25-minute work session is long enough for you to concentrate perfectly on one task or a few micro-tasks, while the 5-minute breaks allow you to drink a coffee or play with your cat to decompress.  

As a reminder, the Pomodoro Technique can be broken down into 6 steps: 
  1. Choose a task to complete: this task should be done in around 25 minutes. Larger tasks should be divided into several micro-tasks.
  2. Set a timer for 25 minutes. Start working, and don't stop until the timer goes off. Ignore all distractions like Slack or Microsoft Teams.
  3. When the timer goes off, you've completed a Pomodoro. Congratulations! You can now take a 5-minute break. Avoid screens to rest your eyes, go for a coffee or play with your pets.
  4. After four work sessions, take a longer break. The Pomodoro Technique suggests a break of 15 to 30 minutes.
  5. Back to work! Continue to carry out the tasks on your follow-up sheet or your to-do list.

Take notes to optimise your next day's work session. 

To help you follow these 6 steps, we've selected 10 particularly effective apps using the Pomodoro Technique. There are 5 apps for smartphones and 5 apps for PCs or Macs.

5 Mobile Apps to Use the Pomodoro Technique

Focus Keeper : is an app on you phone available on Android and iOS. Using this app is very simple: you open the app and start a timer when you want to apply the Pomodoro Technique to start a task. And that's it! This app, available in both free and paid versions, will allow you to share your progress and achievements. You'll also be able to receive notifications so you can take some well-deserved breaks!

Brain.fm : this app on your phone is original in more ways than one. Brain.fm creates music to help you focus on what you need to do. The company uses a patented AI engine to create music based on scientific research to help listeners focus, relax and sleep.

Brain.fm works with teams of scientists and composers to create music specifically designed to help you achieve high levels of concentration within minutes of use.  

Brain.fm sessions are designed to start within the first 10 to 15 minutes, and the effects while listening are designed to be sustained over long periods of time. Users often listen to Brain.fm for sessions of at least 30 minutes, and it is not uncommon for them to last for several hours at a time. This app, available on Android and iOS, is perfect for the Pomodoro Technique! 

Toggl : This time management app is highly effective when it comes to optimizing your workflow. You can easily start tracking with a single click in the application. The app also offers a rather interesting feature: it starts the stopwatch automatically if you forget to do so. What's more, a comprehensive dashboard keeps you informed of your productivity progress, and all the data collected can be exported in Excel, CSV or PDF format. Toggl is available for free in Android and iOS ! 

Forest : this app is certainly the most fun on this list because the app turns the Pomodoro Technique into a real game. When you open the app, you choose a tree and as you work, your tree grows! A tree represents a successful session of distraction-free work. And the more sessions you have, the more your forest grows. If you stop working during a session, your tree dies... Which, of course, is what you want to avoid!  

The company behind the Forest app works with the Trees for the Future organization, and donates the funds raised through your work in the app. To date, over 550,000 trees have already been planted! Forest is available for iOS and Android !  

Emphasis : This app is only available on iOS, but it's well worth the detour. Simple, beautiful and uncluttered, it supports you in your various tasks by giving you advice on concentration and allowing you to launch customized timers depending on the work you have to do. It's not very well known, but it's clearly worth the detour because it uses all the features on iOS: you can put widgets on the home screen, you can create personalized sessions and what's more, the app also works on iPad!

5 Windows and Mac Apps to Use the Pomodoro Technique

Focus Booster : this app, available on Windows and Mac, has a free version that's flexible enough to introduce you to the Pomodoro Technique. With its simple, uncluttered interface, you can set up your first work session in under 30 seconds. Thanks to the dashboard, you can monitor and optimize your day-to-day work. 
 
Freedom : in addition to programming 25-minute work sessions based on the Pomodoro Technique, this app is very interesting because it blocks all sources of distraction that you might encounter while surfing the internet. Available for Windows, Mac and your Google Chrome browser, this app will prevent you from accessing your favourite social networks or shopping sites for a set period of time so that you can concentrate on your tasks! Try it out now! 

Pomodor : with Pomodor, there's no need to buy or download an app to use the Pomodoro Technique: everything happens on your web browser! If you're looking for simplicity, this is the tool for you. On the website, you'll find a button that lets you start a 25-minute timer. You can give this work session a name so that later you can consult the statistics and compare the time spent on each of your tasks, for example. You can also modify the time of each of your work sessions and the time devoted to each break. Finally, you can set up notifications to let you know when it's time to take a well-deserved break. It's very handy! 

Pomello : if you use Trello, this app will be useful. Pomello is designed to work in tandem with Trello. It uses Trello to organise tasks. Pomello transforms Trello cards into Pomodoro tasks in a clear, uncluttered and, above all, distraction-free interface. So you can concentrate on what's really important: your work! Pomello is available on Windows and Mac in free and paid versions. 
 
Pomotodo : this all-in-one app, available for both Windows and Mac, lets you apply the Pomodoro Technique effectively by organizing your tasks in order of priority and creating sub-tasks, so you have a clearer picture of the work you need to do. One of the great features of Pomotodo is that it can synchronize with your Google Calendar! So you'll never lose track of your tasks again!
 
Don't hesitate to tell us which app you prefer on our LinkedIn page!

If you'd like to go even further than the Pomodoro technique, we offer an e-learning course to help you manage your time and priorities more effectively.