Visual Timer

Watch the time disappear

A 60-minute dial where the remaining time is a colored wedge that shrinks as the clock runs. Duration becomes an amount you can see across the room instead of digits you have to read and convert.

20 minute timer

ready

20:00

Pick a length, then start.

Length

minutes

CustomOne to sixty minutes. You can also click a number on the dial while the timer is stopped.

Display

Show the numbers under the dialBrowser notification when the timer ends

Turn the numbers off if digits pull attention away from the wedge. A chime sounds at zero either way, as long as this tab is still open.

On screen

Full screen fills the display with the dial, which is what makes it readable from a desk on the other side of a room.

While the timer runs, ChronoClock asks the browser to keep the screen awake so the dial stays visible. Browsers that do not support that request simply ignore it, and the countdown itself is anchored to the system clock, so it stays accurate in a background tab.

How to use it

Set the length before you start the work, not after you have already lost track of it. Pick one of the presets or type a custom number of minutes, and the wedge appears on the dial straight away, so you can see how big the block is before you commit to it. A 45-minute wedge covering three quarters of the face looks very different from a 10-minute sliver, and that difference is the whole point.

Put the dial where you can see it without looking for it. Full screen on a second monitor, a tablet propped against the wall, or a phone leaning on the desk all work. The value comes from noticing the wedge in your side vision while you keep working, rather than from checking it.

If digits are what pull you out of the work, turn the numbers off. Some people read the shrinking area and stay in the task, while others start doing arithmetic with the seconds and lose the thread. Try a session each way and keep the one that leaves you calmer.

Use it for the start of a task as much as for the end. Setting a small block, five or ten minutes, and watching that wedge run out is often enough to get moving on something you have been avoiding. For a longer stretch, pause rather than reset when you get interrupted, since resuming keeps the block honest.

Frequently asked questions

Why show time as an area instead of digits?

Digits have to be read and then compared against a memory of when you started. A wedge that shrinks shows how much is left in one glance, with no arithmetic. Making an invisible quantity visible is why visual timers are a common recommendation in classrooms and in advice for people with ADHD, who often describe time as something they cannot feel passing.

Why is the dial an hour when my timer is 20 minutes?

A fixed 60-minute face keeps the scale honest between sessions. Twenty minutes is always a third of the circle, so a short block looks short and a long one looks long. If every timer filled the whole dial, five minutes and an hour would look identical.

Does it keep counting if I switch tabs or lock the screen?

The countdown is anchored to the system clock rather than a ticking loop, so it is correct when you come back no matter how long the tab sat in the background. The chime and the notification only fire while the tab is still open.

Will my screen dim while the timer runs?

ChronoClock requests a screen wake lock while the timer is running and releases it when you stop, so the dial stays lit on browsers that support it. Where the request is unavailable, the timer still works and the screen follows your usual power settings.