Set the timer to 155 seconds

How to use the online timer

Stepping away from a screen for 155 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.

Getting started takes one click: press Start and the countdown begins straight away, with pause and reset both on hand if you need to adjust on the fly. Because it's running in your browser, the tab has to stay open for the whole time; minimising the window is fine, but closing it or shutting your device down will stop the clock. A sound plays at the end so you know.

Setting an egg timer or fumbling with a phone app both work, but neither is as quick as a browser tab you already have open. There's no app store, no update prompt, and no login screen between you and starting the count. It's free and needs no registration, it works on any device with a browser, and closing other tabs won't affect it as long as this one stays open. Set a timer for 155 seconds, set the timer to 155 seconds, start a 155 seconds timer — it is the same countdown either way.