1 Minute Timer

Sixty seconds, counted down from the clock so the alarm lands exactly on the minute. Press start, or hit Space.

What a minute is for

A minute is the shortest span most people can hold something without wanting to know how much is left. Below it you can count in your head; above it you stop being able to. That is why so many held exercises, quick drills and short rests are exactly one minute long — it is the point where a timer starts earning its place.

It is also the length people are worst at estimating. Asked to judge a minute without a clock, most adults stop somewhere between forty and eighty seconds, and the error runs in a predictable direction: when you are working hard the minute feels longer, so you stop early, which is precisely the case where the full minute was the point.

For anything you are counting rather than holding — reps, breaths, pulses — the timer is doing the easier half of the job. It frees you to count the thing itself, which is the half that cannot be automated.

What people use it for

• Planks, wall sits and other held positions
• Rest between sets
• Counting a pulse or a respiratory rate
• A one-minute drill, spelling test or mental maths round
• Brushing timing for one half of the mouth

How it works

The end of the countdown is fixed the moment you press start, and the alarm is scheduled then too. On a timer this short that is what keeps it honest: a delay of even a second is a noticeable fraction of the whole thing.

Both fields are editable, so this becomes a ninety second or a forty-five second timer without leaving the page.

Space starts and pauses, R resets. Neither needs the mouse, which matters when your hands are busy with whatever you are timing.

Space

Start or pause.

R

Reset.

Tab title

Shows the time left, so a background tab still tells you.

Questions

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