ARTICLES
On time and focus
A timer is a tool, and a tool is only useful if you know how to use it. These articles cover what actually helps: focus methods, eye breaks, and why browser timers fall behind in the background. Well-known methods are credited to their sources, and where the evidence is thin, the article says so.
ALL ARTICLES
Newest first
- Four ways to keep a timer on top of other windows
Browser PiP, always-on-top tools, a second monitor and video PiP, compared by what each gives you and what it costs, with a recommendation by situation.
11 SEPTEMBER 2026 - The Pomodoro Technique: why 25 minutes, and where it goes wrong
The rules Francesco Cirillo wrote down, why 25 survived, the four places the method breaks, and variations such as 50/10 and 90/20.
11 SEPTEMBER 2026 - Timeboxing: how to stop work from expanding to fill the time
From Parkinson's law to the difference between timeboxing, time blocking and Pomodoro, and how to apply it in meetings and alone.
11 SEPTEMBER 2026 - Why browser timers drift in background tabs
The history of tab throttling, why subtract-one-per-tick timers go wrong, end-time arithmetic and its remaining limits, and how PiP sidesteps the problem.
11 SEPTEMBER 2026 - The 20-20-20 rule: a 20 minute timer for tired eyes
Where the rule comes from, what screens do to eyes, how strong the evidence is, why people drop it, and how a visible countdown makes it stick.
11 SEPTEMBER 2026 - How long should a study session be? 25, 50 or 90 minutes
Choosing a block length by the kind of work and your state rather than the subject, break ratios, and a sample day a month before an exam.
11 SEPTEMBER 2026