Getting Started With DeepCycle
Set up DeepCycle in Chrome: configure Pomodoro work and break cycles, pick a soundscape, and run your first deep focus session.
On this page
You set up a Pomodoro timer in Chrome with DeepCycle by installing the free extension, choosing your own work and break lengths, and starting the first cycle. The remaining time stays visible in a real-time overlay while you work, transitions are announced with multi-sensory notifications, and there is no account to create before any of it works.
Before you begin
- Google Chrome
- A rough sense of how long you can actually concentrate — you can tune it later
What DeepCycle is
DeepCycle is a free focus timer and site blocker extension published by Degird in the Chrome Web Store's Well-being category. It pairs the two halves most focus tools ship separately — the Pomodoro cycle and the website blocker — and adds the recovery half that decides whether the next session is any good: eye-rest prompts on the 20-20-20 pattern, movement reminders, and hydration tracking with daily goals.
Everything is computed and stored locally. There is no account, and the developer declares on the Chrome Web Store that no user data is collected and none is sold or shared.
Configuring your first cycle
Open DeepCycle from the toolbar, or toggle it with Alt + Shift + D, and set your work and break durations. Do not inherit someone else's 25/5 by default: the classic Pomodoro lengths suit short-burst work, but many people doing deep work run better on 50/10 or 45/15. The honest starting point is the length of your current natural attention span, not the length you aspire to — a cycle you complete builds the streak; a cycle you abandon teaches you to ignore the timer.
Set your wellness intervals at the same time: how often the eye-rest prompt arrives, how often the movement reminder interrupts, and your daily water goal if you want hydration tracking. These are reminders, nothing more clinical — DeepCycle automates the timing of established practices; it makes no health claims.
Running the session
Start the timer, pick a soundscape — lo-fi, rain, or cafe ambience from the built-in library, or upload your own .mp3 — and work. Sound starts and stops with the timer, the overlay keeps the countdown visible without tab-switching, and the transition alert ends the interval so a finished cycle never runs on unnoticed.
The part most sessions actually die from — the open tab — is handled by Deep Focus Mode and strict mode, covered in the website blocking guide. What the completed cycles add up to lives in focus analytics and the desk plant.
Run your first day with just the timer, no blocking. Knowing which sites actually broke your cycles tells you exactly what belongs on the block list — measured, not guessed.
Next steps
DeepCycle
Pomodoro cycles paired with site blocking and gamified tracking, so deep work survives contact with the open internet.
See also
Related documentation
- Blocking Websites With DeepCycle & Strict ModeBlock distracting websites during focus sessions with DeepCycle: build a domain block list, set schedules, and lock it with strict mode.
- Focus Streaks, Heatmaps & the Desk Plant in DeepCycleHow DeepCycle's gamified analytics work: activity heatmaps, focus streaks, the wellness score, and the four-stage virtual desk plant.