Online timers for focus
Every one of these runs in your browser, needs no account, and keeps correct time in a background tab. Pick by how long you can honestly commit to right now — not by how long you wish you could.
Which length
The right block is the longest one you actually finish. That is the whole rule, and it is worth more than any technique: a fifteen-minute session you complete teaches you that finishing is possible, and an abandoned ninety teaches the opposite. The lesson compounds either way.
Short blocks solve starting. Long blocks solve depth. Most people who think they have a focus problem have a starting problem, and reach for the wrong end of this list.
- 5 Minute TimerBreaking a stall on something you have been avoiding
- 10 Minute TimerOne small task from start to finish
- 15 Minute TimerHousehold admin and paperwork
- 20 Minute TimerA pomodoro that keeps getting abandoned at twenty-five
- 25 Minute TimerWell-defined work: revisions, problem sets, email, code review
- 30 Minute TimerWork that needs a running start
- 45 Minute TimerDeep work on a problem you already understand
- 50 Minute TimerA complete pass at a document, chapter, or feature
- 1 Hour TimerA single clear task with a defined finish
- 90 Minute TimerProblems that take twenty minutes just to load
- 2 Hour TimerTimed practice exams
Related
- Free online study room
- What is body doubling?
- Focus and sleep sounds
Rain, noise colours, fire and room tone — each playable here, free.
- ADHD Timer
A free ADHD-friendly visual timer with 5, 10, 20 and 25-minute starts, ambient sound and no account. Start small, then continue if focus arrives.
- 5 Minute Timer
A five-minute timer that runs in your browser. Five minutes is the length you use when the task is not the problem — starting is.
- 10 Minute Timer
A ten-minute timer that runs in your browser. Long enough to finish something small, short enough to agree to on a bad day.