Set the timer to 186 minutes

How to use the online timer

A long-haul flight of 186 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 away it goes, counting down on its own without needing you to babysit it every few seconds. The only real rule is keeping this browser tab open, since the countdown pauses along with the page if you close it or shut the browser down entirely. Right at zero, a sound plays to let you know time's up, clear enough to hear from the next room over.

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 186 minutes, that works too — press Start and the page does the rest.