15 Minute Timer
A quarter of an hour, with an alarm at the end. The long break in a work cycle, and about the shortest block in which you can make a real dent in something.
Counting down
15:00
A quarter of an hour
Fifteen minutes is the smallest unit most people schedule in. Diaries divide the hour into quarters, appointments are booked in them, and consultants bill in them, so it has become the practical atom of a working day in a way that ten minutes never did.
In a work cycle it is the long break — the one taken after several focused blocks, where the point is to genuinely leave rather than to sit still for a moment. Fifteen minutes is long enough to eat something, go outside or have a conversation, all of which do more for the next block than five minutes at the same desk.
It is also the classic power nap. The research on short sleep is fairly consistent: ten to twenty minutes gives alertness without the grogginess, because you wake before dropping into deep sleep. Go to thirty and you often wake mid-cycle and feel worse for half an hour, which is why the recommended window is so narrow and why timing it rather than trusting yourself is the whole trick.
For work, fifteen minutes is the honest answer to "I do not have time for this today". Very few things need to be finished in one sitting, and a quarter of an hour against something you have been avoiding usually reveals that the avoidance was costing more than the task.
What people use it for
- The long break after several focused blocks
- A power nap, kept short enough to wake cleanly
- A quarter-hour attack on something you are avoiding
- Timeboxed reading or inbox clearing
- Cooking steps — simmering, proving, resting a joint
How it works
Already set to fifteen minutes. Start with the button or the space bar.
It finishes at a moment fixed when you started, which is what makes it safe to use for a nap or a break in another room. Nothing about a hidden tab or a locked phone moves the alarm.
The tab title shows the time remaining, so it is readable from the tab strip.
Editable to any length, so this covers twelve minutes, twenty, or a quarter of an hour plus thirty seconds.
- Space
- Start or pause.
- R
- Reset.
- Tab title
- Shows the time left, so a background tab still tells you.
Questions
How long should a power nap be?
Ten to twenty minutes. That is short enough to wake before deep sleep begins, which is what gives the alertness without the grogginess. Thirty minutes often means waking mid-cycle and feeling worse for a while afterwards.
Is fifteen minutes the right long break?
It is the usual figure in a pomodoro cycle, taken after four rounds. Anything from fifteen to thirty works — what matters is leaving the desk rather than the exact number.
Will the alarm wake me?
It is scheduled in advance on the audio clock, so it sounds on time even with the tab hidden. For a nap it is worth allowing notifications as well, so there are two independent signals rather than one.
Can I set 12 or 18 minutes?
Change the minutes field to whatever you need — anything up to a day.
Does it drift over a quarter of an hour?
No. It reads the clock rather than counting, so fifteen minutes in a background tab is exactly fifteen minutes.
Can I use it for cooking?
Yes, and this is a common length for simmering, proving and resting meat. The timing is reliable with the tab in the background, which is the state a kitchen timer in a browser is usually in.
What if I need a break longer than this?
The twenty, thirty and forty-five minute timers are all set up the same way, or set the minutes field here to any figure.