Using a timer to study

A timer changes how a study session feels. An open-ended evening of revision is easy to put off, because there is no visible end to it. Twenty-five minutes has an end you can see, so starting is easier.

The countdown also removes the decision about when to stop. You stop when it beeps, which means you are not negotiating with yourself every few minutes.

The pomodoro method: 25 minutes on, 5 off

Set the timer to 25 minutes, work on one thing, then take a 5 minute break. Each block is one pomodoro. After four of them, take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The 25 minute length is not magic. It is short enough that starting feels cheap, and long enough to make real progress on one task. What matters more is the single-task rule: one pomodoro, one subject, no switching.

• Decide the one task before you start the countdown.
• Put your phone out of reach, not just face down.
• If you remember something urgent mid-block, write it down and carry on.
• Take the break away from the screen. Stand up.

Pick the length that matches the work

Different work suits different blocks, and the presets above cover the common cases.

• 1 minute: a quick recall drill, or timing yourself on a single exam question.
• 5 minutes: the break between pomodoros.
• 10 minutes: memorising a short list, or a warm-up when you cannot face starting.
• 25 minutes: the standard pomodoro for problem sets and reading.
• 45 minutes: essay writing and past papers, where stopping early breaks your thread.

If 25 minutes feels impossible on a bad day, set 10. A finished 10 minute block beats an abandoned 45 minute one.

Timer or stopwatch?

Use the countdown timer when you know how long you want to spend. Use the stopwatch when you want to find out how long something actually takes.

The stopwatch is the more useful of the two for exam preparation. Time yourself on a past paper question, then compare that against the marks available. Most exams allow roughly one minute per mark, so a 6 mark question you spend 15 minutes on is the real problem to fix.

The lap button records a split without stopping the clock, so you can time each question in a set and see which one is eating your time.

Does the countdown stay accurate in a background tab?

Yes. Browsers deliberately slow down timers in tabs you are not looking at, to save battery. A timer built naively on that would drift badly over 45 minutes.

This one avoids the problem by storing the clock time it should finish at, rather than counting ticks. The number on screen may pause while the tab is hidden, but the moment you come back it corrects itself to the true remaining time. The end time never drifts.

Keep the tab open, though. Closing it discards the countdown, because nothing is saved.

Timing a presentation

For a talk, rehearse with the stopwatch first to find your real pace, then set the countdown to your limit and rehearse again. Most people speak faster under pressure than in practice, so leave yourself a margin of about ten per cent.

If you have a word count rather than a rehearsal, estimate the time from that instead.

• Reading and speaking time — turn a word count into a spoken duration
• Essay word counter — check the length of your script
• Typing test — measure typing speed and accuracy