Building a Small Tool Instead of Searching for One

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 17:00:00 +0000

I wanted a Pomodoro timer that I could use both at home and at work.

The requirement was not complicated: choose a duration, start the timer, and hear a small sound when it finishes. I did not want to install an app with a paid tier, and I did not want to accept cookies or give a website permission to send me notifications just to use a timer.

I looked around and could not find what I needed, so I decided to build it myself instead. You can try it out here: Pomodoro Timer.

Honestly, I also just felt like building something. I wanted to see how quickly I could get a working solution up and running. It took about 15 minutes using AI-assisted coding, including setting up the subdomain and deployment pipeline. It took me longer to write this post than it did to build the timer.

The result is deliberately small. It has a timer, a selection of durations from 5 to 60 minutes, Start and Reset controls, and it plays a sound when the timer finishes. There are no accounts, subscriptions, cookies, or notification permissions.

I tested the timing by starting a five-minute timer on the website at the same time as a five-minute timer on a basic Casio watch. They beeped at the same time. It is a simple test, but it was enough to verify the behaviour that mattered.

The interesting part was not that I could build a timer. It was that the cost of building a small, specific solution was so low that it was no longer worth searching for an existing one.

AI-assisted coding made the implementation quick and straightforward. Keeping it simple meant resisting the temptation to add features like task lists. I built what I needed, deployed it, and was able to start using it right away.

Side Projects | Scott Edwards

Building a Small Tool Instead of Searching for One