1 hour timer

What a 1-hour timer is good for

An hour is the master unit of the schedule, the block we plan our days in. A one-hour timer is the tool for anything that should fill, but not overflow, a single hour: a workout, a meeting, a study block, an exam section, a slow-cooked dish, or simply a cap on an activity you do not want to let sprawl. It is the most natural 'one thing, properly' length there is.

• •A full workout, class, or training session
• •A one-hour meeting or workshop kept to its slot
• •A long, uninterrupted deep-work or study block
• •Capping screen time, gaming, or a child's activity
• •Cooking and baking that runs about an hour

The one-hour block and the limits of deep focus

An hour is at the upper edge of what most people can sustain as a single block of genuine deep focus, which makes it both powerful and slightly risky. Used well, an hour of uninterrupted single-tasking, no notifications, no tab-switching, one clearly-defined goal, produces more than a fragmented half-day. The risk is that an undefended hour drifts: thirty real minutes of work wrapped in distraction, with the timer the only thing standing between you and a vague sense that you 'spent an hour on it'. Two habits make the hour count. First, define the single outcome before you start, not just the activity, 'finish the first draft of section two', not 'work on the report'. Second, treat the chime as a real boundary: stop, take a proper break, and decide deliberately whether to start another hour, rather than sliding into a second one on momentum and fumes. Stacking fresh, defined hours beats grinding through one long blurry stretch.

How this 1-hour timer stays accurate

Most browser timers drift, because they count by accumulating small ticks, and browsers deliberately slow those ticks down in background tabs to save battery. This one is different: the moment you press start it records the exact wall-clock time the countdown should end, and every frame it simply measures how long is left until that fixed end time. If you switch tabs, lock your phone, or the tab is throttled, the remaining time is recomputed from the real clock the instant you come back, so a 1-hour timer is still a 1 hour timer rather than however long the throttled ticks happened to add up to. On phones the page asks for a screen wake lock while the countdown is running, where the browser allows it, so the display does not sleep mid-count. The alarm is synthesised in the browser with the Web Audio API, which means there is no audio file to download and the chime is ready the moment you start.

Other timer lengths

Need a different length? These are the timers people most often reach for alongside a 1-hour timer:

• 45 minutes timer
• 90 minutes timer
• 2 hours timer

Frequently asked questions

Is an hour too long to focus without a break?

For deep work, an hour is near the upper limit of sustained high-quality focus for most people. It works well if you define a single clear outcome first and take a real break at the end rather than rolling straight into another hour.

Will the one-hour timer survive my screen locking?

Yes. The countdown is pinned to a fixed end time the moment you start, so it stays accurate across screen dimming and tab switches. Keep the page open so the alarm can sound at the hour mark.

Can I start a one-hour timer from a bookmark?

Yes. Bookmark /timer/1-hour?autostart=1 and the countdown begins the instant the page loads, turning a single click into a running one-hour timer.

Does the 1-hour timer work offline?

Yes. Once the page has loaded, the countdown runs entirely in your browser using your device clock, so it keeps working with no connection. The alarm is generated in the browser too, so there is no sound file to download.