Presets
Built-in timer presets, the distraction shield, and productivity methods.
A preset is a starting point: a set of durations and a list of apps you are allowed to keep, bundled under a name so you do not rebuild it every morning.
Choosing a preset
Pick a preset such as Study Focus or Work Focus, then tweak the durations until they match how you actually work. The three timers — sprint, short break, long break — are all adjustable.
There is no correct preset. The 25-minute sprint is a good place to start precisely because it is short enough to begin when you do not feel like it.
The distraction shield
A preset also carries an allow list. Build the list once, and for the length of the session Porotimer locks everything else away — you stay on the apps that move the work forward, and the decision about whether to check something else has already been made.
Put a tool on the allow list because the task needs it, not because you expect to want it. The list is easier to keep honest when you write it before the session rather than during one.
Productivity methods
Porotimer includes a set of time-management methods you can work through in the app, so you can try a different approach to structuring the day without leaving the timer.
If you would rather read about them first, the site has a longer write-up of each one under Productivity methods.