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Break Schedule page

The Schedule page of the Break page in the Settings window includes controls for how long to take the break, how often, and other options to refine the experience.

Break for: How long do you want the break to last? Set the duration of the break here. This control is quite flexible (and open source ): it works like the standard date picker, but for time intervals. Click on a component to edit it; type a value, click again to show a pop-up menu of values, use up/down arrow keys or the stepper control to cycle through values, and left/right arrows or Tab and Shift-Tab to change components.

Every: How often do you want a break? Set the frequency of the break here. The work duration is displayed to the right; this is the frequency minus the break duration. It might help determine how long the break should be, or how often.

From: How do you want to set the next due time? Your options include:

• Last Due: The next break will be due to start the frequency interval after the previous one. For example, if the frequency is 30 minutes, the next break will start 30 minutes after the previous one starts. This is the default.
• Last Done: This will reset the break after it is completed, so the next break will occur the frequency interval after that. For example, a 10 minute break every 30 minutes will next occur 30 minutes after the break finishes, instead of 30 minutes after it starts (as with the Last Due option). This is a supporter reward.
• Fixed Time: This will display a field to enter the number of minutes past the hour (0 - 59), and will start the break at that time, or some multiple if the frequency is less than an hour. For example, setting it to 50 for an hourly break will start the break at 09:50, 10:50, 11:50, etc. Or setting it to 15 for a break every 30 minutes will start it at 09:15, 09:45, 10:15, 10:45, etc (you may need to also use the Available option to set a start time in this situation). This is also a supporter reward.

Available: By default breaks are always available, but supporters can limit the break to a specified time range and/or specified days of the week. This is useful for example to only have breaks during working hours, or only on weekends.

Next due: This control shows the date and time when this break will next occur. It can be edited if desired.

When taking a natural break: A "natural break" is when the computer is idle. Time Out can handle this situation in different ways:

• Continue Countdown: Ignore the idle state, and just continue as if the computer is being used.
• Pause Countdown: When idle for at least 30 seconds, stop counting towards the break, so the time to the break remains the same.
• Count Backwards: As for Pause Countdown, but if still idle for at least a minute the due time will start counting upwards, pushing the break back, until it reaches the frequency interval.

The default is Count Backwards. Choosing another option is a supporter reward.

Reset this break after a natural break longer than: If this box is checked, the break will be reset after a specified interval of idle, screensaver or sleep time, where you can choose the threshold interval. Off by default. This is a supporter reward.

Reset this break after finishing one with a higher priority: This option is useful to keep lower priority breaks (e.g. Micro) aligned with higher priority ones (e.g. Normal). Off by default, and is also a supporter reward.

Skip this break if one with a higher priority...: This checkbox uses the order of breaks in the sidebar to automatically skip the break if a more important one is due within a specified time interval. This is generally a good idea, so is the default. Supporters can disable it, and might want to do so for fixed-time breaks (e.g. lunchtime or afternoon snack).

When this break is due: Normally the break is started immediately when it is due. Supporters can instead opt to wait for 15 seconds of idle before starting, so you can finish your thought. If the Mac remains busy for a minute after due, the break starts anyway, so you don't miss out.

If a mouse or trackpad button is down when a scheduled break is due, Time Out waits until it is released, so the break won't interrupt a drag operation. Manually started and preview breaks still start immediately.