Pomodoro Guardian

Personal tool, in development

A computer app that notices when you've been working too long without a break — and actually makes you stop and rest.

Why I'm building it

I often work long, unbroken stretches — sometimes late into the evening or at night. Everything else suffers: exercise, walks with the dog, plain rest.

Phone timers never worked for me: you have to notice them, open them and obey them — which is exactly what fails when you're absorbed in work. So I decided to build a helper I don't have to remember: it sees that I'm working and calls the break by itself.

How it works

• Notices work by itselfNothing to switch on: the app sees when you're actively working at the computer and keeps the time.
• A real breakWhen it's time to rest, the whole screen is covered — not a notification that's easy to dismiss and forget.
• A few honest exceptionsIt stays out of the way during a video call or a meeting from your calendar. For true emergencies there's a small, deliberately limited allowance of skips.
• A limit on the working dayThe app makes sure the working day doesn't stretch on without end.
• Movement during the dayYou can log walking or standing at your desk and see how much movement you've had today.
• Everything stays on your computerThe history of work and breaks is kept only locally, with no cloud.

Status

For now it's a personal Windows tool that I use myself. It's still in development and not available for download.