5-minute focus timer
The 5-minute focus timer runs 5-minute work blocks, 1-minute breaks, and a 5-minute break after every 4 rounds. A 5-minute block is not the Pomodoro technique as Cirillo wrote it. It is a starting tool. The block is so short that the usual reasons not to begin stop working: you cannot claim you have no time, and you cannot say the task is too big, because you are only committing to 5 minutes of it.
Most of the time, the timer ringing is not the end. Once you are 5 minutes into a task, the hard part, starting, is already behind you, and you can either keep the short rounds going or switch to 25/5 with the task already open. The 1-minute break is just long enough to decide.
This timer suits people with ADHD, people stuck on a task they have been avoiding, and anyone who needs to clear a small thing like an email reply or a dish rack. It is a bad fit for deep work, because a 5-minute horizon keeps you skimming, and it stops being useful once a task is moving. When that happens, change presets and let the block grow.
Questions
is a 5 minute pomodoro worth it
As a way to start, yes. A 5-minute block is too short to finish much, but it gets a task from closed to open, which is where most procrastination lives. Once you are moving, switch to a longer preset.
what is the 5 minute rule for procrastination
Commit to 5 minutes of the task you are avoiding, with permission to stop when the time is up. Often you will not stop. This timer sets that promise with a 1-minute pause after each round so you can decide.
how do you get started when you can't focus
Make the first step small enough that refusing it feels silly. Open the file, write one sentence, or read one paragraph, and give it 5 minutes. Then decide again. Deciding every 5 minutes is easier than deciding once for an hour.