What this page is set to
This page opens with the timer already set to the values below. Nothing to configure — just press start.
One full cycle of 2 focus sessions runs 135 minutes, 90 of which is focus time. Fill an eight-hour day with this split and you spend roughly 5.3 hours focused across about 7 sessions.
You can change any of these numbers under timer settings. Changes are saved for this page only, so they never overwrite the settings on the home page or on another preset.
- 45-minute focus
- 15-minute short break
- 30-minute long break
- Long break after every 2 focus sessions
Why a longer break is not lost time
The classic failure mode of a full study day is burning the morning and losing the afternoon entirely. The fix is not more focus time — it is a smaller drop-off. Taking a real fifteen minutes every 45 often leaves you with more total output by the evening, not less.
The split also lands neatly on the hour, which makes planning simple, and it mirrors a school timetable closely enough that most people's bodies already know the rhythm.
Don't let the fifteen minutes evaporate
Fifteen minutes is awkward: too short for a nap, long enough for an episode of something. Left unplanned it is the easiest time in the day to lose. Decide in advance — stretching, a short walk, sitting with your eyes closed.
Lying down is the classic route by which fifteen minutes becomes forty. Stay upright.
When this split is the wrong choice
It is a bad fit for a deadline. With a quarter of every hour going to recovery, the same time at the desk produces less finished work than a 50/10 day would.
- For short deadlines, 50/10 or 60/10 will serve you better.
- For months of daily study, this split holds up where tighter ones do not.
- You can also use it only in the evening, when your capacity has dropped.
- A 30-minute long break lands after every two sessions — a natural place for a meal.
A full day on 45/15
Because one focus block plus its break is exactly an hour, this split translates directly onto a timetable. Here is one way a full study day starting at 9 a.m. might look. It is an illustration of the shape, not a prescription.
The principle is heavy material in the morning and hands-on work straight after lunch. The post-lunch slump is when most people are least able to absorb new ideas, and trying to anyway means reading the same page three times. Problem sets and tidying up notes keep your hands busy and make the slump much cheaper.
- 09:00–10:45 Two focus blocks with a 15-minute break between. Material that needs understanding.
- 10:45–11:15 30-minute long break. A walk or a snack.
- 11:15–13:00 Two more blocks. Practice questions on the morning topic.
- 13:00–14:00 Lunch — stretch the long break to cover it.
- 14:00–15:45 Two blocks of hands-on work: memorisation, rewriting notes.
- From 16:15, two final blocks for review, covering only what you got wrong today.
Questions about the 45/15 timer
Isn't a fifteen-minute break excessive?
For a one-off push, yes. For work you have to repeat daily for months, time spent recovering is what keeps the total up.
Is 45 much different from 50?
The focus lengths barely differ; the break ratio does. Here you get 45 working minutes per hour against 50 in a 50/10 day.
Can I switch subjects during the break?
That is a subject change, not a break. If recovery is the point, get away from text and screens completely.