The problem with fixed timers
Most productivity timers work the same way: work for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break, repeat. The problem is that fixed timers don’t care where you are in your thinking. They interrupt you when you’re finally in flow, and force a break you don’t need. Or they end your break before you’ve actually recovered.
Divvy Time works differently. Instead of dictating when you work and when you rest, it tracks what you earn.
How it works
Work earns break time. Every minute you spend working adds a proportional amount of break time to your break bank. If you’re on a 1:3 ratio (the default), three minutes of work earns one minute of break.
You decide when to take it. Nothing forces you to stop working. When you’re ready for a break, you tap “Take break” and draw from what you’ve earned. If you skip the break, those minutes stay saved — they don’t disappear.
Unused break carries forward indefinitely. Whether you save a few minutes or a full hour, it rolls into your next segment or your next session. There’s no “use it or lose it.”
Sessions are yours to define. A session starts when you start working and ends when you decide to end it — either deliberately (after finishing a task) or when life intervenes. The app doesn’t time out on you.
What this changes
| Traditional timer | Divvy Time |
|---|---|
| Fixed 25-minute work blocks | Work as long as it makes sense |
| Fixed 5-minute break blocks | Take the break you’ve earned, when you want it |
| Break time resets each cycle | Unused break accumulates and carries over |
| You follow the timer’s rhythm | The timer follows your rhythm |
The two parts of your time
Divvy Time tracks two things on the main screen:
Current segment timer — how long you’ve been working (or on break) in this continuous stretch. It resets each time you switch between work and break.
Session totals — the cumulative work and break time across your whole session, including all the back-and-forth. This is what your history records.
Work milestone notifications are based on session totals, so they fire based on how much you’ve worked across the whole session — not just since your last break.
Getting started
When you first open the app, you’ll choose a starting ratio that fits your style:
- Sprint — shorter breaks, longer focus blocks (30 minutes work earns 5 minutes break)
- Restore — more generous breaks, sustainable pace (30 minutes work earns 15 minutes break)
You can change this at any time in Settings.