Pomodoro Music
Mixtuby is a free Pomodoro timer that runs over YouTube music in your browser. Pick Classic 25/5, Deep 50/10, Flowtime, or set your own lengths (focus from 1 to 120 minutes), choose a focus playlist or keep the music already playing, and work with your to-do list and a daily streak on screen. No account needed. It needs an internet connection, and on a phone the screen has to stay on.
How It Works
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1
Open the timer
Tap Start the Timer. Mixtuby opens with the Pomodoro panel ready.
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2
Pick a rhythm
Classic is 25 minutes of focus and 5 of rest, with a longer break after four rounds. Deep is 50 and 10. Flowtime lets you work until you stop. Custom takes your own numbers.
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3
Choose the music
Tap one of the focus playlists, or keep whatever is already playing. The music keeps going through the breaks.
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4
Start and look away
The outer ring is the time left in this round, the inner ring is the song playing under it. A sound marks the end of each round, and the next one starts by itself.
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5
Tick off the task
The first open item from your to-do list sits on the timer, so you always know what this round is for. Tick it off when it is done. Every day with at least one round adds to your streak.
Pick Your Pomodoro Rhythm: 25/5, 50/10 or Flowtime
Classic 25/5
25 min focus · 5 min break · 15 min after every 4 rounds
The original Pomodoro. Short enough to start on anything, with a long break that arrives before you are worn out.
Open ClassicDeep 50/10
50 min focus · 10 min break · 20 min after every 3 rounds
For work that takes ten minutes just to get back into, like code, long writing or design. Fewer interruptions, longer breaks.
Open DeepFlowtime
No countdown · you end the round · break ≈ 1/5 of the work
The clock counts up instead of down, so no bell interrupts your best minutes. Stop when you reach a natural pause.
Open FlowtimeWhich Pomodoro Rhythm for Which Task
| Task | Rhythm | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Email, admin, small chores | Classic 25/5 | Short tasks fit in one round, and the bell stops the inbox from eating the hour. |
| Studying and revision | Classic 25/5 | Rounds you can count, and a long break after four keeps an evening of study going. |
| Coding, long writing, design | Deep 50/10 | When getting back into the problem takes minutes, 25 is over too soon. |
| Creative work in flow | Flowtime | No bell in the middle of an idea; you call the break yourself. |
| A task you keep putting off | Custom 10/5 | A ten-minute round is small enough to begin. Set it under Custom. |
Pomodoro Timer with Your Own YouTube Playlist
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1
Copy your playlist link
On YouTube, open one of your public playlists and copy its link (Share, then Copy link).
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2
Paste it into Mixtuby
On the Mixtuby home screen, paste the link into “Paste a YouTube link or playlist”. Your songs load into the player.
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3
Start the timer over it
Open Pomodoro, skip the Quick Playlists and press Start focus. The timer keeps the music that is already playing.
The Science
Francesco Cirillo came up with the technique in the late 1980s as a university student, with a tomato-shaped kitchen timer — pomodoro is Italian for tomato. The idea is simple: one task, a fixed stretch of time, then a real break. Knowing the bell will ring makes it easier to start and easier to ignore everything else until it does.
The breaks are the part people skip, and the part with the most evidence behind them. A 2022 meta-analysis in PLOS ONE (Albulescu and colleagues, 22 studies) found that short breaks of ten minutes or less reliably leave people feeling less tired and more energetic. The effect on raw output was smaller and depended on the task, so treat the break as maintenance, not a productivity hack.
Music is a closer call. Reviews of background-music studies find no single verdict: it helps some people on some tasks and gets in the way on others. Lyrics are the clearest risk when you read or write, which is why the focus playlists are mostly instrumental. Flowtime answers the most common complaint about Pomodoro — a bell that rings in the middle of your best minutes — by letting you call the break yourself; it then suggests a break of about a fifth of the time you just worked.
Pairs Well With
Real Moments to Use It
Chapter 3 by Friday
An exam on Friday and a chapter you keep circling. Put “Revise chapter 3” at the top of the list, start the timer and stop only when the bell rings.
Classic 25/5 · 4 rounds
The bug that will not let go
You lose ten minutes every time Slack pulls you out. Phone face down, one long round, then a real break away from the screen.
Deep 50/10 · 2 rounds
The task you have put off for a week
The tax form, the cover letter, the email you dread. Ten minutes is small enough to begin, and beginning is the hard part.
Custom 10/5 · 1 round
A thesis, 300 words a day
Same time every evening, the same instrumental playlist. The streak shows the days you showed up, even when the words came slowly.
Classic 25/5 · daily streak
Working from the kitchen table
No commute to start or end the day. The first round is the start, the last tick on the list is the stop.
Classic 25/5 · Finish at 6 p.m.
Writing when the idea is flowing
The worst moment for a bell. Let the clock count up and call the break yourself when the paragraph is done.
Flowtime · break ≈ 1/5
Ready for your first round?
No account, nothing to install. It runs in your browser, over your music.
Start the Timer🧰 Useful Gear
Hand-picked vinyl, merch & gear for fans.
As an Amazon Associate, Mixtuby earns from qualifying purchases.
TickTime Pomodoro Focus Timer Cube
Flip-to-focus, silent
Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Headphones
Quiet room, wherever you work
TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp
Warm-to-cool eye-care light
Atomic Habits — James Clear
Build the focus habit
JBL Clip 4 Portable Bluetooth Speaker
Waterproof, clip it anywhere
Pomodoro Music — FAQ
Is the Pomodoro timer free, and do I need an account?
It is free for everyone, signed in or not. A free account only keeps your streak when you switch phones or computers.
Can I change the Pomodoro lengths?
Yes. Besides Classic 25/5, Deep 50/10 and Flowtime, Custom lets you set the focus block (1 to 120 minutes), the short break, the long break and how many rounds come before it.
Does the timer keep running with the screen off on my phone?
No. On a phone, keep the screen on (dimmed is fine). On a laptop it runs in a browser tab like any other page.
How long should a Pomodoro be?
The classic answer is 25 minutes of focus and a 5-minute break, with a longer break after four rounds. For deep work like coding or writing, 50/10 often fits better. If the bell keeps cutting you off mid-flow, try Flowtime and end each round yourself.
Can I use my own YouTube playlist?
Yes. Paste the link of a public YouTube playlist on the Mixtuby home screen, then open the timer and press Start focus without picking a Quick Playlist. The timer keeps your music.
What music works best for Pomodoro?
For reading and writing, music without lyrics — lo-fi, ambient, piano or classical. For routine work, anything you like that does not pull your attention away. The focus playlists in the timer are built that way.
What if I am in flow when the round ends?
Switch to Flowtime. There is no countdown to interrupt you; you end the round yourself, and the break that follows is about a fifth of the time you worked.
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Your mix, ready tomorrow
One gentle nudge a day — even with the app closed.