A 20 minute timer you can see
Twenty minutes suits a homework block for a primary-school child, a quiet read or a focused clean of one room.
This is a visual timer. The time is a blue disk that shrinks as the minutes pass: more disk, more time. You can read it in one glance from across a room, with no numbers to work out. The last minute turns amber, and the end is one soft chime.
What 20 minutes are good for
- One homework block, followed by a break.
- The 20-20-20 habit for screens: every 20 minutes, look at something far away for 20 seconds.
- Quiet reading or drawing time.
- A focused clean of the kitchen or bathroom.
One tip
Put the timer where it can be seen without picking anything up: full screen on a laptop at the end of the table works well. If the timer is on a phone in a pocket, time goes back to being invisible.
Other timer lengths
1 min · 2 min · 3 min · 5 min · 10 min · 15 min · 20 min · 25 min · 30 min · 45 min · 60 min
Need a different length? Type any number of minutes from 1 to 180 in the Custom box, or open the main visual timer, which remembers the length you used last. For work and break cycles that run themselves, use the pomodoro timer.
Why a shape works better than numbers
Numbers only help if you can feel what "20 minutes" is like. For many children, and for many people with ADHD, that feeling is unreliable. This is often called time blindness. A disk that shrinks turns time into something you can see, so nobody has to guess. More in our guide to visual timers.
Questions about the 20 minute timer
What is the 20-20-20 rule?
It is a common tip for resting your eyes at a screen: every 20 minutes, look at something about 20 feet (6 meters) away for 20 seconds. Start this timer and look up when it chimes.
Is 20 minutes a good study block?
For many children, yes. If 20 minutes is hard to start, begin with 10 and build up. If it is going well, keep going: the timer counts up calmly after zero.
Is this 20 minute timer free?
Yes. It is free, with no signup and no account. It runs in your browser on a phone, tablet, laptop or classroom screen.
Does the 20 minute timer make a loud alarm?
No. It plays one soft chime at the end and the disk turns amber, not red. You can switch the sound off with the bell button.