Retro Pomodoro Timer program on a TRS-80

The Pomodoro technique is a way to set short periods of focus for yourself, usually 25 minutes. It’s helpful when you have trouble knowing when to take a mental break (me) or when to take a physical break from the computer to avoid a painful shoulder that extends into your wrist and hand for several days (just me?). I’m always adjusting my timer for different activities. For example, I know that when I’m writing, my focus starts to drift after about 15 minutes, so I need to focus on something else for a bit or my writing starts to sound like garbage. If I’m studying I might be able to go longer mentally, but physically I need to stand up and stretch — usually 25 minutes is good for me.

I’ve used Pomodoro apps on my phone and laptop, and I’ve also set timers without any bells and whistles, like activity trackers. Yesterday I was messing with my TRS-80 and wrote a short, super simple program in BASIC that sounds an alarm after a certain amount of time I designate. The TRS-80 sits right next to me, but I still have to move out of my chair to stop it. So it’s actually more helpful than if I just clicked my desktop or picked up my phone. Plus, it was just a little retro computer fun.

If you’re curious, here’s the code:

10 PRINT "HOW MANY SECONDS"
20 INPUT S
30 FOR Z  = 1 TO 460 * S
40 NEXT Z
50 PRINT S " SECONDS ARE UP!"
60 FOR T = 120 TO 180
70 SOUND T,1
80 NEXT T
90 FOR T = 150 TO 140 STEP -1
100 SOUND T, 1
110 NEXT T
120 GOTO 50

Type RUN. That’s it. Here’s how it works in real life: