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Focus timer widget

Start a five-minute focus session from your Home dashboard with one click, watch it count down, and end it from the same widget.

All plansUpdated

The Focus timer widget starts a five-minute focus session from your Home dashboard. Five minutes is short enough to begin even when a task feels hard to start. When the time is up, you decide whether to stop there or keep going.

A session started from this widget is not tied to any desk, so you can work wherever you like in PlexiDesk while it runs.

Before you start

  • The widget is available on every plan.
  • You can add it to Home, Office Home, People Home or Brain Home, once on each.
  • It comes in two sizes:
    • Small: a card with a Start 5 min button, and the countdown and an End button while a session runs.
    • Icon: a small square that starts or ends a session with one click. Four icon-size widgets fit in the space of one Small widget.

Add the widget to your dashboard

  1. Open your Home dashboard and click Customize at the top right.
  2. Click Add widget.
  3. Click Actions, or type "focus" in Search widgets.
  4. Click Focus timer. The preview opens at Small.
  5. For the icon size, click the arrow to the left of the preview or the first dot under it. The label under the preview reads Icon.
  6. Click Add widget, drag the widget into place, then click Done.

Start and end a session

With the Small widget

  1. Click Start 5 min.
  2. The widget shows the time left, counting down, and a timer pill appears at the top of the window.
  3. Work on whatever you chose to start.
  4. To stop before the time is up, click End in the widget.

With the Icon widget

  1. Click the icon. It reads Focus, and its tooltip says Start 5 minute focus.
  2. While the session runs, the icon shows the time left and the word Focusing.
  3. To stop early, click the icon again. Its tooltip now says End focus session.

What you see while a session runs

  • The timer pill. A pill at the top centre of the window counts down the same time as the widget. Its × also ends the session early.
  • Pauses when you step away. The timer only counts while PlexiDesk is the window you are using. If you switch to another app or minimise PlexiDesk, the countdown pauses and the pill says paused. After a minute away it also shows how many minutes you have been gone. Moving between Home, desks and other screens inside PlexiDesk does not pause it.
  • When the time is up. An alarm sounds and a card asks what you want to do next:
    • Done for now ends the session.
    • Keep going · 5 more, 15 min or 25 min (pomodoro) starts a new countdown of that length. The widget follows the new countdown.

Pressing Esc or clicking outside the card counts as Done for now. For more about the card and the timer pill, see Start a focus session Coming soon.

The Focus mode button does the same thing

At the top of every Home dashboard, next to Customize, there is a Focus mode button. It starts the same five-minute session, and reads End focus mode while the session runs.

The widget and the button control the same session. You can start a session with one and end it with the other. If you started a focus session somewhere else, such as on a desk, the widget shows that session's countdown and its End button stops it.

Change the size or remove the widget

  1. Click Customize at the top of the dashboard.
  2. To switch between Icon and Small, click the size button at the top-right corner of the widget. It shows the current size.
  3. To take the widget off the board, click the × at its top-right corner.
  4. Click Done.

Good ways to use it

  • When you cannot get started. Click Start 5 min and do the first small step. If it is going well when the time is up, choose Keep going.
  • Between meetings. Five minutes can be enough to clear one small task.
  • With other one-click icons. The icon size sits neatly beside the New desk, Discover and New meeting icons.

Common questions

Can I set a different length?

The widget always starts five minutes. When those are up, you can keep going for 5, 15 or 25 more. For other ways to start a session, see Start a focus session Coming soon. For a countdown that lives on a desk and that you set yourself, use the Timer widget.

Why did the countdown stop?

The timer pauses while PlexiDesk is not the window you are using, or when it is minimised. Come back to PlexiDesk and it carries on from where it stopped.

Can I tie the session to a desk?

Not from this widget. Start the session from the desk instead, and it counts the time you spend on that desk. See Start a focus session Coming soon.

Nothing happens when I click the widget

While you are customising the dashboard, widgets do not respond to clicks. Click Done first.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].