2 Hour Timer
2:00:00
Two hours is not a focus technique, it is a container for work that genuinely cannot be broken up: a mock exam, a full draft, a migration you do not want to abandon halfway. Used as a daily default it mostly measures how long you sat there.
What 120 minutes is good for
- Timed practice exams
- A complete first draft in one sitting
- Migrations, builds, or processes that must not be interrupted
- A protected morning with nothing else in it
Where it falls down
Quality falls off well before the end for most people on most tasks. Use it when the work demands continuity, not to prove endurance.
Using it well
Name one task before you press begin — not a subject but a task, the kind of thing that can be finished or not finished. Put the phone in another room rather than face down; the difference between silenced and requiring you to stand up is the whole intervention. And stop mid-sentence when it rings, because returning to an obvious next keystroke is far easier than returning to a blank page.
If you set the timer and then still do not start, the problem is not the length. It is the crossing, and no timer configuration fixes that — a timer has nothing to say about whether you began. That is what body doubling is for.
Common questions
- Should I take breaks inside a two-hour block?
- If the work allows it, yes — a short stand-up break at the hour costs little and protects the second half. If the work is a timed exam or an uninterruptible process, the block is the point and you take the cost.
- Is two hours of focus realistic?
- For most people, not at full intensity. Expect the second hour to be worth less than the first, and plan what goes in it accordingly — review and mechanical work rather than the hardest thinking.
Other lengths
- Online timers
Working timers for every focus length, with the honest case for each one.
- 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.
- 15 Minute Timer
A fifteen-minute timer that runs in your browser. The standard unit for admin, tidying, and anything you have been putting off.
- 20 Minute Timer
A twenty-minute timer that runs in your browser. A gentler alternative to the standard pomodoro, and often a better fit.