I was struggling to sit down and start my side projects, so I began reading more about productivity and motivation. Eventually I ended up writing a tiny Pomodoro timer for my terminal — mostly just to help myself get moving.
It’s super minimal: you enter the title, work time, break time, and number of intervals. At the end it generates a simple session report and asks you to write your own conclusion. I like reading my own reports later, so I added that feature.
I also enjoy reading short reports and summaries, so adding them felt natural. And honestly, I prefer building simple tools myself rather than hunting for the “perfect” app.
Works on Windows & Linux, needs only Python.
GitHub: https://github.com/Mietkiewski/MPomidoro
Gumroad PWYW $0+: https://mietkiewski.gumroad.com/l/mpomidoro
import time import os import platform import sys from datetime import datetime _old_settings = None _buffer = "" YELLOW = "\033[93m" GREEN = "\033[92m" RESET = "\033[0m" def clear_console(): if platform.system() == "Windows": os.system("cls") else: os.system("clear") def enable_keyboard_input(): if sys.platform.startswith("win"): pass else: global _old_settings global _termios_imported if termios is None: import termios if _old_settings is not None: fd = sys.stdin.fileno() termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, _old_settings) def disable_keyboard_input(): if sys.platform.startswith("win"): pass else: global _old_settings global _termios_imported if termios is None: import termios fd = sys.stdin.fileno() _old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(fd) new = termios.tcgetattr(fd) new[3] = new[3] & ~termios.ECHO & ~termios.ICANON termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, new) def input_title(title): # enable_keyboard_input() in_value = input(title) # disable_keyboard_input() return in_value def input_uint(title): while True: # enable_keyboard_input() in_value = input(title) # disable_keyboard_input() if in_value.isdigit(): return int(in_value) def print_buffer(): global _buffer print(_buffer, end="") def print_in_buffer(printable): global _buffer _buffer += printable + "\n" def main(): title = input_title("Title: ") work_time_minutes = input_uint("Work interval time in Minutes: ") break_time_minutes = input_uint("Break interval time in Minutes: ") work_time_seconds = work_time_minutes * 60 break_time_seconds = break_time_minutes * 60 intervals = input_uint("Intervals Count: ") duration = intervals * (work_time_minutes + break_time_minutes) clear_console() txt_report = "" json_report = dict() pdf_report = None print_in_buffer(F"MPomidoro") print_in_buffer(F"{title}") print_in_buffer(F"{intervals} x {work_time_minutes}min {break_time_minutes}min") print_in_buffer(F"") begin = datetime.now() for interval_i in range(0, intervals): for work_i in range(0, work_time_seconds): time.sleep(1) clear_console() print_buffer() ml = (work_time_seconds - work_i) // 60 ml = F"0{ml}" if ml < 10 else ml ms = (work_time_seconds - work_i) % 60 ms = F"0{ms}" if ms < 10 else ms print(f"{YELLOW}WORK #{interval_i+1} {ml}:{ms}{RESET}") clear_console() print_in_buffer(F"{GREEN}WORK #{interval_i+1} {work_time_minutes}min{RESET}") print_buffer() for break_i in range(0, break_time_seconds): time.sleep(1) clear_console() print_buffer() ml = (break_time_seconds - break_i) // 60 ml = F"0{ml}" if ml < 10 else ml ms = (break_time_seconds - break_i) % 60 ms = F"0{ms}" if ms < 10 else ms print(f"{YELLOW}BREAK #{interval_i+1} {ml}:{ms}{RESET}") clear_console() print_in_buffer(F"{GREEN}BREAK #{interval_i+1} {break_time_minutes}min{RESET}") print_buffer() clear_console() print_in_buffer(F"") print_buffer() end = datetime.now() begin_year = begin.strftime("%Y") begin_month = begin.strftime("%m") begin_day = begin.strftime("%d") begin_hour = begin.strftime("%H") begin_minute = begin.strftime("%M") end_year = end.strftime("%Y") end_month = end.strftime("%m") end_day = end.strftime("%d") end_hour = end.strftime("%H") end_minute = end.strftime("%M") conclusions = input_title("Conclusions: ") txt_report += F"MPomidoro Report\n" txt_report += F"Title: {title}\n" txt_report += F"Date: {begin.strftime("%Y.%m.%d")}\n" txt_report += F"Begin: {begin_hour}:{begin_minute}\n" txt_report += F"End: {end_hour}:{end_minute}\n" txt_report += F"Duration: {duration}min\n" txt_report += F"Conclusions: {conclusions}\n" txt_report += F"\n" for i in range(0, intervals): txt_report += F"✓ WORK #{i+1} {work_time_minutes}min\n" txt_report += F"✓ BREAK #{i+1} {break_time_minutes}min\n" filepath = F"./Reports/{begin_year}/{begin_month}/{begin_year}_{begin_month}_{begin_day}_{begin_hour}{begin_minute}_{title.replace(" ", "_")}.txt" os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(filepath), exist_ok=True) with open(filepath, "w", encoding="utf-8") as file: file.write(txt_report) if __name__ == "__main__": main()Hey, could you remove the full Main.py from your comment? The project is closed‑source, so sharing the entire file isn’t allowed. Thanks!
The project is closed‑source
It’s not though. It may not be FOSS, and by omitting a license you do keep the copyright by default, but it’s definitely not closed source either, it’s “source available”. Unless I’m missing the joke?
That comment is helping potential users vet your project before they use it, since not everyone has the motivation to go into the repo and take a look
Just to clarify — I don’t have any issue with people analyzing or quoting small parts of the code. The project is intentionally distributed on Gumroad as a “0$+” closed‑source release rather than as an open‑source GitHub repo. Since there’s no license file, it defaults to all rights reserved, which means full files can’t be redistributed.
Part of this project is also a learning exercise for me in how to package and distribute small tools. I’m genuinely interested in feedback on this approach.
But if someone posts the entire file publicly, it makes it harder for me to actually demonstrate the distribution model I’m experimenting with — the whole point was to release it through Gumroad, not as a fully exposed source dump.
Since there’s no license file, it defaults to all rights reserved, which means full files can’t be redistributed.
I’m not a lawyer, but I would argue this actually means that even people who get it from Gumroad can’t use it “legally”. There should be a license which expresses your intent.
Starting has always been the hardest part for me. Curious what helps you get going — I’m still figuring it out myself.
I feel like this might sound unhealthy of me but: The angrier/more frustrated I get, the better. Angry isnt bad in my head, angry at $thing gets shit done because I do not want to see it or have it in my head anymore than necessary.
Though I enjoy once I start even if I hate $thing since I like computers/coding/learning.
This single thing got me through university. I dont want to do $thing -> not doing it keeps it on my mind -> once I have a single minute free I will make a plan where to begin the thing -> when I have a good chunk of the time I may need for it I do it just so the thing is finally gone.
Healthy? Up for debate. Can’t argue with the results tho…
Edit: I am typically a very jolly and happy Person ^^ there is just this research and writing stuff in uni where it feels like pleasing some arbitrary line the prof drew ._.
Finding music that locks me in is key.
Nice… Music definitely helps.



