A 5 minute timer you can see
Five minutes is the "just start" timer. It makes a job you have been avoiding small enough to begin.
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 5 minutes are good for
- Starting something you keep putting off: only five minutes, then you may stop.
- A five-minute warning before leaving the park or turning off a screen.
- A quick tidy of one table, one shelf or one corner.
- A short burst of reading or times-tables practice.
One tip
For a switch your child finds hard, give the warning at five minutes and show the disk. Say what comes next: "when the blue is gone, we go home." Give one more reminder when the disk turns amber in the last minute.
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 "5 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 5 minute timer
Does a five-minute timer help with ADHD?
It can help with starting, which many people with ADHD find harder than continuing. Five minutes is a small promise to make. It will not work every time, but it costs nothing to try.
How do I give a five-minute warning a child will accept?
Show it, do not only say it. Start the timer, point to the disk and name what happens next. A shape that shrinks is a warning a child can check for themselves.
Is this 5 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 5 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.