52/17 rule timer
Focus
52:00
Then a 17 min break
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How 52/17 works
The 52/17 rule means working for 52 minutes and then taking a 17-minute break. It comes from time-tracking data published by DeskTime in 2014, not from a controlled experiment. The long break is the point: 17 minutes is enough to leave the desk properly before the next block.
- Pick one task for the block.
- Start the 52-minute focus block and close everything unrelated.
- When the chime sounds, stop and leave the desk for the full 17 minutes.
- Use the break for something physical or social: walk, eat, talk to someone.
- Repeat for as many blocks as the day allows.
Where it comes from
In 2014, the time-tracking company DeskTime analysed its app's user data. DeskTime isolated the top 10 percent of its most productive users, meaning those with the highest share of time in apps classed as productive, and looked at their computer use during one workday (DeskTime). On average, they worked for 52 minutes and then took a 17-minute break (DeskTime).
DeskTime later repeated the analysis. In 2021 the most productive users worked for 112 minutes and broke for 26; in data from February 2020, just before the pandemic, the ratio was 80/17 (DeskTime, summary).
What the evidence says
Treat 52/17 as an interesting pattern, not a prescription. It describes what one group of software users happened to do, measured by one company's app. It was never tested as an intervention, it does not show that the ratio caused anyone's productivity, and the company's own later data produced different numbers. What it does support is a sensible idea: longer focus blocks can go together with generous breaks.
Who it suits
- People who like long breaks away from the desk
- Office work that mixes focus and meetings
- Anyone who finds 5- and 10-minute breaks too short to recover
- Days with only a few, deep focus blocks
Compare methods
All timers| Method | Focus | Break | Long break |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25/5 Pomodoro | 25 min | 5 min | 15 min after 4 |
| 50/10 | 50 min | 10 min | 30 min after 4 |
| 52/17 | 52 min | 17 min | — |
| Animedoro | 50 min | 20 min | — |
| Flowtime | Open-ended | Focus time ÷ 5 | — |
Just need a countdown?
Single timers without breaks, with classroom mode and fullscreen.
Questions
About the 52/17 method. Missing something? Write to contact@novasouds.se.
No. It comes from DeskTime's analysis of its own users' computer activity in 2014. It is usage data, not a controlled study, and DeskTime's later analysis in 2021 found a different pattern of 112 minutes of work and 26 of rest.
The 17-minute break after every block already does the job of a long break. Three rounds of 52/17 take about three and a half hours.
Choose 52/17 if you prefer fewer, longer blocks and real breaks away from the desk. Choose the 25/5 Pomodoro if starting is hard or your work is fragmented.