A few years back while trying to figure out how to work efficiently, I came across a method of utilising the time and not feeling burned up at the end of it. Pomodoro was the name of that technique. You work for 25 min and take a 5 mins break after.

Then a few months later I started playing with Arduino and fell in love with its capabilities. This project is marriage of these two things.

The provided code can be changed to work for any sequence of events with existing hardware setup. Existing code has [25 min work, 5 min break, 25 min work, 5 min break, 25 min work, 5 min break, 25 min work, 15 min break] and then repeat.

If you wish to change with sequence just change bellow lines of code:

int pomodoroSecs[8] = {
 1500, 300, 1500, 300, 1500, 300, 1500, 900
};
bool isWorkState[8] = {
 true, false, true, false, true, false, true, false
}; 

Schematics Diagram

KiCad 3D views

Demo

EXPANDED TECHNICAL DETAILS

Productivity Optimization Hardware

This project builds a dedicated focus timer based on the Pomodoro Technique, helping users manage work and breaks with physical feedback.

• Temporal State Machine: The Arduino manages four distinct states: Work (25m), Short Break (5m), Long Break (15m), and Standby. Each state has a different visual theme on an I2C OLED or LED ring.
• Tactile Timer Dial: Features a rotary encoder to manually adjust the timer duration. The Arduino uses interrupts to capture every "Click" of the dial, providing instant scrolling of the settings on-screen.

Alerts

• Non-Intrusive Soundscape: Instead of a harsh buzzer, the Arduino plays a "Soft Chime" or a sequence of mellow tones upon completion, encouraging a calm transition to the next task.