Focus Session Presets: Pomodoro, Deep Work and More

Every time you set a focus timer, you make a small decision: how long, and what for. It sounds trivial, but small decisions at the start of work are where procrastination hides. You adjust the minutes, wonder whether 45 is better than 50, and the session hasn’t begun.

Focus session presets remove that decision. In Flip Focus you pick a ready-made session, place your phone face down, and the session starts. The choice takes a second because you made it once, in advance.

The ready-made sessions

Flip Focus includes five presets, from a one-minute warm-up to a full ultradian block:

The short presets matter more than they look. On a day when a 60-minute block feels impossible, a one-minute session is easy to say yes to, and once the phone is face down, keeping going is often easier than stopping.

Custom focus sessions

The presets cover common session lengths, but your day may have its own patterns. With Flip Focus Pro you can create custom sessions with your own length, name and color. Some ideas:

• “Inbox zero” for a short block to clear email in one pass.
• “Thesis chapter” for a long writing session.
• “Code review” for a focused review of a colleague’s work.
• “Practice” for an instrument or a language.

Color helps you spot the right session at a glance, and the name helps you see in your history where your focused time actually went.

How to start a session

1. Pick a preset or a custom session.
2. Place your phone face down on the desk. The timer starts on its own.
3. Keep it face down. If you pick it up, auto-pause stops the timer until you put it back.
4. Mark how it went when the session ends.

Choosing the right session length

There is no single right length. A useful rule is to pick a length you are confident you can finish today, then lengthen it once finishing becomes easy. A completed short session builds more momentum than an abandoned long one.

If you often end sessions early, shorten them. If you often finish and want to keep going, lengthen them. Your dashboard shows how each session went, so after a week you will have a real basis for the decision.

Free and Pro

Flip Focus is free to download, and the presets up to Deep Work are available on the free plan. Free sessions can run up to 60 minutes, with 3 completed sessions a day, so the 90-minute Ultradian Rhythm preset needs Pro. Flip Focus Pro removes those limits and adds custom sessions. Pro prices vary by country and are shown in the app.

Limitations of session presets

• They don’t run on a schedule. A session starts when you choose it and flip your phone, not automatically at a set time.
• They don’t include focus music or white noise. Flip Focus has no built-in sounds, so use your own if you like working with audio.
• They don’t sync to a computer. Flip Focus works on your phone only.

Need help setting up sessions? See Help & support, or get Flip Focus for iPhone or Android.

Frequently asked questions