Free visual timer
Visual timer: see time run out
Pick the minutes and press Start. The disc shrinks as time passes, and a soft chime plays when it's gone.
15:00
Ready
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How to use the visual timer
- Pick the minutes. Tap a quick length, or set anything from 1 to 120 in Timer settings. Up to an hour, the disc sits on a 60-minute face, so 15 minutes is a quarter of the circle; longer times switch to a 120-minute face.
- Press Start, or the space bar. The disc shrinks as the time passes.
- When the colour is gone, a soft chime plays.
- For a room, press Full screen. The screen stays on while the timer runs.
Why seeing time helps
"Fifteen minutes" is a number. For a lot of ADHD brains it doesn't feel like anything until it has already gone, which is why five minutes of scrolling turns into forty. A 2019 review found time perception is consistently altered in ADHD: it isn't a discipline problem, it's a sensing problem.
A shrinking disc turns time into something you can see from across the room. You glance at it and know "about half left" without reading digits or doing sums. That's the whole trick, and it's why visual timers turn up in ADHD coaching, classrooms and kitchens alike. More on that in ADHD time blindness and the tools that help.
Ways people use it
- Getting out the door. Set it for the time you have, and leave when the colour is gone.
- Boring tasks. "Only until the disc runs out" is an easier deal to strike with yourself than "until it's done".
- Kids and transitions. Screen time, tidy-up, "five more minutes": the disc makes the end visible before it arrives, so it's less of a surprise.
- Classrooms. Full screen on the projector for group work or quiet reading. Hide the numbers if you want the shape to do the talking.
- Breaks that don't stretch. Put the break on the disc, so the end of it is in sight the whole time.
For work and break rounds, use the Pomodoro timer; for one focus session with a place to park stray thoughts, the focus timer.
Questions, answered
What is a visual timer?
A visual timer shows time as a shape that shrinks, here a coloured disc, instead of only as digits. You can see at a glance how much time is left, which helps anyone who finds time hard to feel, including many people with ADHD and young children.
Is a visual timer good for ADHD?
Many people with ADHD find it easier to stay on track when they can see time passing instead of having to check a clock and work it out. It does not cure time blindness, but it makes the time left visible, which is often the missing piece.
Can I use the visual timer full screen in a classroom?
Yes. Press Full screen and the disc fills the display. Keep screen on stops it going to sleep while the timer runs, in browsers that allow it. Press Escape or Exit full screen to leave.
Is this visual timer free?
Yes. No account, no ads and nothing to install. It runs in your browser and keeps working without a connection once the page has loaded.