Nova Focus

 

05:00

Ends with a chime.

What fits in 5 minutes

Five minutes is the standard Pomodoro break, and a useful block of its own:

  • A real break: walk to the window, refill your water, stretch. Not a feed.
  • A warm-up: reread your notes from last time before a focus block.
  • A tidy-up: clear the desk and close the tabs you no longer need.
  • In class: a short task, a quiz, or a transition between activities.
  • A quick review: answer five flashcards without looking.

Day math: twelve fit in an hour. In a day of eight 25/5 Pomodoros, the short breaks add up to 30 minutes, plus one 15-minute long break. That is the point: rest is part of the plan.

5 minute timer with calm music

Five minutes is the classic Pomodoro break and a common classroom calm-down. For a break, play the Nova Jazz playlist or rain and step away from the screen; for a class returning from recess, soft piano from the Classical playlist and dimmed lights. Keep the volume under conversation level so the chime is clearly heard.

Playlists play in full when you are logged in to Spotify; logged out, the player plays 30-second previews.

The rain sound is marked Suggested in the timer above. Start it at a low volume.

5 minute Christmas timer

In December, switch on the winter theme and this timer gets slow snow behind the digits, a celesta at zero instead of the chime, and our Christmas – Piano playlist in the music panel. Five minutes is about two piano pieces: enough for a calm start after recess, or one tidy-up song from the covers list.

The theme stays on in this browser until you switch it off, so the classroom computer opens with snow next lesson too. It works in classroom mode and in fullscreen.

  • In the winter theme · 1 h 45 min Christmas – Piano Piano arrangements of carols and Christmas songs, with a few new winter pieces. The quiet one: for reading and independent work. Open in Spotify
  • Nova Sounds playlist · 2 h Christmas – Jazz Small-band Christmas jazz: standards, carols and new holiday tunes. For breaks, transitions and a festive classroom. Open in Spotify
  • Nova Sounds playlist · 3 h 41 min Christmas – Covers Christmas pop songs sung by Nova Sounds artists. It has vocals, so it suits a class party or tidy-up better than quiet work. Open in Spotify
  • Nova Sounds playlist · 13 min Christmas – Children's Six sung Christmas songs for younger children, about 13 minutes in all. For sing-along time. Open in Spotify

Want breaks built in?

The closest interval method is the 25/5 Pomodoro timer: 25 minutes of focus, then a 5 minute break, on repeat, with a 15 minute break after every 4 blocks.

See every timer and method, or set any length you like.

Other lengths

All timers

Questions

About the 5 minute timer. Missing something? Write to [email protected].

Something different from the work: stand, move, look into the distance, drink water. Scrolling tends to run past the five minutes. When the timer ends, go straight back.

Yes. Classroom mode shows large digits that are readable from the back of the room, and fullscreen hides everything else. A gentle chime marks the end.

On devices that support it, the timer asks the browser to keep the screen awake while it runs, so it does not dim halfway through.

Yes. Turn on classroom mode, pick rain or the Nova Classical playlist, and start. Preview the playlist first: it includes a few hymns and seasonal pieces.

Yes. Press Turn on the winter theme on this page, or switch it on in the timer settings. You get falling snow, a celesta end sound and Nova Sounds' Christmas piano playlist. Switch it off the same way.