Peak Timer

How do I start a focus session?

Open Peak Timer under Work and tap “Start”. Peak suggests up to three tasks (continue, Focus 3, most important open work) and adjusts the length to the time until your next event. It also works without a task: just write down what you're working on.

1. 01Pick a suggestion or “Choose something else”.
2. 02Duration: 15, 25, 50, 90 minutes, open-ended or custom.
3. 03“Start”. Anywhere in Peak One, the clock keeps running in the mini player at the bottom.
4. 04Shortcut: ⌘ ⇧ F (Windows: Ctrl ⇧ F) starts or pauses.

How do I pause a focus session?

With “Pause”, with the space bar on the focus page, or anywhere with ⌘ ⇧ F (Windows: Ctrl ⇧ F). The clock stops and the tab title shows “Paused”. “Resume” continues.

1. 01Tap “Pause”.
2. 02Optional: choose why you were interrupted (meeting, message, call, something urgent, missing info, lost focus, other). That helps later in Insights, but it's never required.
3. 03Tap “Resume” when you're back.

How does the break between two blocks work?

After finishing, Peak Timer offers “Start break”. The length matches the block: 15 minutes give a 3-minute break, 25 give 5, 50 give 10 and 90 give 20. The open-ended timer has no break.

1. 01Finish the session and choose “Start break”.
2. 02Peak shows “Step away from the screen.” with a countdown. “End break” ends it early.
3. 03When the break is over, choose “Start next”, “+5 min break” or “End cycle”.

Something occurs to me during focus. Where does it go?

Write it in the “What came to mind?” field and press Enter; the clock keeps running. The thought becomes a task in the Peak Task inbox. After the session, Peak shows all captured thoughts: schedule them for today or tomorrow, delete them or leave them in the inbox.

1. 01On the focus page: press C.
2. 02In the mini player: the plus.
3. 03Anywhere: ⌘ ⇧ I (Windows: Ctrl ⇧ I).

What happens to my task when I finish a session?

You choose what happened. Done: the same task is checked off everywhere, in Task, Board and Day. Blocked: it waits, with your note as the reason and a follow-up in three days. Made progress and Continue don't change the task; the focus time is recorded in its history. “Discard” leaves the task unchanged.

Who can see my focus sessions?

Only you. Sessions are private, even in a company workspace. When you start, you can set what your team may see later (only “in focus”, plus the project or the task title); the team presence that will show this isn't built yet. There is no screen or keyboard monitoring and no ranking.

What happens when the planned time is up?

Nothing gets cut off. If sound is on, a soft tone plays and Peak Timer shows “The planned time is up. How did it go?” with “+5 min” and “+15 min”. The clock keeps counting the overtime (for example “+03:10”) until you choose “Finish”. You toggle sound at the top with “Sound on” or “Sound off”.

What does “Today” show in Peak Timer?

How much focus you've done today, your realistic focus capacity and what you've planned. Capacity is an 8-hour day minus your appointments from Peak Day and the focus already done; it's an assumption, not a measurement. If you plan more than fits, Peak says so. Below that are today's tasks with “Start block”.

What do History and Insights show in Peak Timer?

History lists the last 60 days by day: time, task, focus time, captured thoughts, breaks and outcome. Discarded sessions are listed as “Discarded”. Insights analyze the last 28 days: when you work with focus (weekday and hour), which length works, estimate versus reality, why you were interrupted and your streak on workdays. There's no score and no ranking.

“A focus session is already running. Finish it first.”

Only one session runs per person at a time, whether you started it in Peak Timer or Peak Focus. You see the running session in the mini player at the bottom of every page. Finish it there or in Peak Timer, then you can start a new one.

“The session was just changed on another device.”

You paused, extended or finished the same session in another tab or on another device. Peak Timer loads the new state. The server keeps the time, so no minute is lost. With “No connection”, check your internet and try again.

“Session saved. The task couldn't be updated; check it in Peak Task.”

Your focus time is saved, but the outcome (for example “Done” or “Blocked”) didn't reach the task. Open the task in Peak Task and check it off there or set it to waiting.