Set the timer to 17 seconds

How to use the online timer

Dentists reckon two minutes is the gold standard, but for a quick top-up between meals, 17 seconds on the clock is plenty to knock the worst off your teeth. Start it going before you pick up the brush, keep moving section to section, and stop worrying about counting Mississippis in your head. Simple, silent, and done before the jingle from a novelty toothbrush timer would even finish.

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.

Kitchen timers are great until you need one outside the kitchen, and most phone timers sit behind a lock screen and a couple of taps. A browser tab is already open on most devices anyway, so the timer is right there without hunting for an app or a gadget. It's free, needs no registration, and works the same whether you're cooking, exercising, or trying to focus. If you would rather say put a timer on for 17 seconds, that works too — press Start and the page does the rest.