Set the timer to 129 seconds

How to use the online timer

Stepping away from a screen for 129 seconds does more for your focus than another scroll through your phone at your desk. Set the timer, actually leave your seat, and treat it as a hard stop rather than a suggestion you'll talk yourself out of after thirty seconds. When it goes off, you get back to work with a clearer head instead of drifting back in on your own vague timing.

It runs the moment you hit Start, no extra steps needed before the numbers begin moving. Because everything happens inside this browser tab, it needs to remain open while the clock runs; switching tabs is fine, but closing the page or turning off your screen partway through will stop the countdown. A sound marks the finish, so you'll know the moment it's done without having to watch it count down.

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. If you would rather say put a timer on for 129 seconds, that works too — press Start and the page does the rest.