FlowTime
Stepping away should not eat your earned break
Real work is interrupted by real life. A phone call arrives. Someone asks a question. You need water, a bathroom break, or a few minutes away from the screen.
If the timer keeps running, your stats become inflated. If you stop the session, the record becomes fragmented. If the app treats every away moment as a break, you lose the recovery time you earned through focus.
That is why FlowTime added Pause.
Pause vs break
Pause and break are not the same.
A break is part of the Flowtime rhythm. You worked, your focus faded, and now you recover for a proportional amount of time.
Pause is for an interruption that should not count as either work or recovery. It protects the record from being polluted.
How Pause works
During a focus session, you can pause the timer when you step away. Paused time is recorded as neither focus nor break. You can leave it paused for up to six hours, then resume and continue from the same session.
This keeps three numbers cleaner:
- Focus time remains actual focus.
- Break time remains intentional recovery.
- Away time does not get mixed into either one.
Why FlowTime kept proportional breaks
FlowTime still uses proportional breaks because fixed breaks do not fit every session. A 20-minute focus block and a 90-minute focus block should not create the same recovery need.
Pause solves a different problem. It does not replace the break. It protects the break from being consumed by interruptions.
Restraint vs protection
A rigid clock says "keep going" or "stop now" even when the reason is messy. FlowTime tries to protect the record instead. When you are focused, the timer can keep serving the work. When life interrupts, Pause keeps the data honest.
For more on interruptions, read how to prepare for returning after interruptions and micro-breaks for focus recovery.
FAQ
Q. Does pausing count against my break time?
A. No. Paused time is neither focus nor break.
Q. How long can I leave FlowTime paused?
A. You can leave a session paused for up to six hours.
Q. Should I use Pause for every short rest?
A. No. Use Break when you are intentionally recovering after focus. Use Pause when life interrupts and the time should not count either way.
Q. Does Pause make stats more accurate?
A. Yes. It prevents away time from inflating focus totals or consuming break totals.
Q. Is this useful for ADHD-friendly routines?
A. It can be. The point is not diagnosis; the point is reducing the penalty for interruptions and keeping the next step clear.