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About this tool
Match your focus span to a proven study-break protocol (25/5, 50/10, 52/17 or 90/20) and get a full session schedule.
This tool picks the study-to-break ratio that fits your real attention span, choosing among four documented protocols — Pomodoro 25/5, university-style 50/10, DeskTime's observed 52/17, and the ultradian-aligned 90/20 — by selecting the longest work block your focus span can sustain. It then lays the ratio across your available time as a start-time schedule that never ends on a break. It is for students who know they need breaks but keep guessing at when.
Open Break Ratio Optimiser on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Enter the values you already know.
Fine-tune the options to match your scenario.
Read the result and use it in your planning or reporting.
Every recommendation is a known protocol — Pomodoro, 50/10, 52/17 or 90/20 — not an invented number.
Selection is driven by the focus span you can honestly hold, with a custom 5:1 block below 25 minutes.
You get block-by-block start times and a study-share percentage, ready to copy next to your desk.
The one whose work block matches your genuine focus span. Common evidence-backed options are 25/5 (Pomodoro), 50/10 (typical study-skills advice), 52/17 (the ratio DeskTime reported from its most productive users), and 90/20 aligned with the roughly 90-minute ultradian alertness cycle.
Yes for short or rebuilding attention spans: 25 minutes of work with a 5-minute break, as designed by Francesco Cirillo. Its drawback is that the 25-minute cap can interrupt problems that need longer immersion, which is when 50/10 or 90/20 blocks serve better.
It is the pattern DeskTime found in a 2014 analysis of its most productive tracked users: about 52 minutes of focused work followed by a 17-minute genuine break. It is an observed correlation from time-tracking data, not a controlled experiment, but it works well for people who find 50-minute blocks natural.
A trailing break adds recovery time with nothing left to recover for — it just pushes your finish later. This planner drops any final break block, so the session always closes on completed study time.