Set the timer to 108 minutes

How to use the online timer

A long-haul flight of 108 minutes goes faster when you break it into chunks instead of watching the in-flight map crawl across the screen. Set the timer for a stretch of reading, sleeping, or a movie, and let it mark the end of that chunk rather than checking your watch every twenty minutes. It won't make the flight land any sooner, but it makes the hours feel like they're moving somewhere.

Press Start and it gets going immediately, no sign-up screen or settings menu standing in the way. The one thing to remember is that it counts down inside this browser tab, so it needs to stay open rather than closed or replaced by another site if you want an accurate result. A sound plays once the time is up, which is your cue that whatever you were timing is done.

A kitchen timer only works in the kitchen, and a phone timer competes with texts, calls, and every other app fighting for your attention. Keeping the countdown in a browser tab sidesteps both problems: it goes wherever your laptop or phone goes, and it isn't trying to notify you about anything else. Minimise it, work on something else, and it'll be counting when you check back. Set a timer for 108 minutes, set the timer to 108 minutes, start a 108 minutes timer — it is the same countdown either way.