visual timer
watch the time go instead of reading it.
what is a visual timer?
a visual timer shows time as a shape instead of only as numbers. here it is a coloured disc: set 15 minutes and the whole disc is filled, then the coloured part shrinks back towards twelve o'clock as the minutes pass. halfway through, half the disc is left. you don't have to read or subtract anything to know roughly where you are.
why might it help an ADHD brain?
it was designed with ADHD brains in mind. many people with ADHD describe time as something they can't feel passing, which our post on time blindness looks at in more detail. a shrinking shape in the corner of your eye gives that missing sense of time something to hang on to. it won't change how your brain works, and it doesn't need to. it just makes the clock harder to ignore.
how do you use it?
pick a length with the buttons or type any number of minutes up to 120, then press play or the space bar. the disc counts down and a soft chime plays at zero. if the numbers are a distraction, hide them and keep only the disc. full screen turns it into a big clock for a desk, a classroom or the kitchen counter.
what can you time with it?
anything with an edge. a ten minute tidy, a reading block before bed, the gap before you need to leave the house, or one stubborn task you have agreed to start for just five minutes. if starting is the hard part, getting started when you can't get started pairs well with a short disc.