Blog — Time Timer
Teaching Your Children Mindfulness
Help kids establish and integrate mindfulness practices into daily routines to live more joyful healthy lives.
Summer Activities for the Whole Family
As the days grow longer, we’re looking forward to celebrating the official start of summer. Ready to get outside and take advantage of the warmer weather? Here are a few fun activities for the whole family to enjoy.
Productivity Boost!
Learn ways to boost productivity with this blog of ideas. Whether you are at home, in the classroom, or at work, Time Timer is a great tool to help boost productivity. Learn about Time Blasts and how to utilize them to make every moment count.
Celebrating Those Who Graduate This Year
Graduation is a special season for graduating seniors and for those who have helped them to the finish line. We share a few ideas to celebrate the accomplishment and recognize this moment of joy.
Teacher Appreciation Month: Three Ideas to Show Teachers That You Care
Teacher Appreciation Month is an opportunity to recognize and express gratitude for the teachers in your life. Gather three ideas for showing your teachers that you care.
Using Visual Schedules to Support Students with Autism
Today we have a guest blog post from a special education teacher of over 20 years. Pam has implemented visual schedules into her classroom to help aid her students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Learn ways to use visual schedules and visual timers to support your child or student with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
How Community Support and Self-Education Leads to Self-Advocacy and Shoulder Hugs: The Story of Terri and Bayley
Today we feature an interview with a long-time Time Timer fan, Terri. Terri shares her story about becoming involved in the Autism community after her son Bayley’s diagnosis. She shares advice and how Bayley’s diagnosis changed their lives for the better
Strengths of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Through the Lens of a Teacher
Learn about the strengths of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder through the viewpoint of special education teachers. This blog post is one of many from experts during Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month.
Family Pizza Night with Time Timer (Recipe!)
A delicious family pan pizza recipe the whole family will enjoy making for your next pizza night, along with a few tips for Time Timer in the kitchen!
National Inventors Day with Jan Rogers
Jan Rogers invented the first visual timer, the Time Timer, over 25 years ago. Being a female inventor had its challenges, but Jan persisted and created a product that helps people all around the world. Time Timer is used to help those with ADHD, Autism, Down Syndrome, and much more. Read our interview with Jan Rogers in honor of National Inventors Day.
Time Management for Stress Relief
Chronic stress has a huge impact on our overall health and wellbeing. Whether you’re caught up in the constant news cycle, feeling isolated from family and friends, or just worn out from the daily grind, bringing attention to your time management toolkit can provide a lot of relief. We’re here to help!
Personal Time for Parents with Time Timer
As unpredictable as this year has been, and continues to be, taking time for yourself might have dropped off your priority list.
This is especially true and quite the herculean task for parents with kids running around the house, juggling remote work, and at-home learning.
However, personal time is important for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing, increases resilience, and helps us to be happy, healthy individuals, partners, parents, and friends.
As the saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup. When you take good care of yourself, it allows you to take good care of those you love as well.
If you’ve already integrated the Time Timer into the at-home learning schedule for your children, congratulations! You’ve got a bit of a head start.
If you’re new to Time Timer, we’re here to help! Check out some of our recent blog posts on the importance of routines for your kids, particularly with regards to helping with schooling and as well as helping establish a new sense of normalcy in these uncertain times.
Ready to build in some space for personal time on the schedule?
How to use the Time Timer to create a little “me time”:
It is important to set aside time for yourself throughout the day to decompress from the stresses of teaching or monitoring classes, working remotely, and managing the household.
Take a look at your home schedule and find some time that you can block out for you. Make it official and add it to the calendar just as you would for any other appointments or meetings!
When it’s your time block, set up a Time Timer for a half-hour (or the appropriate time for your child’s age), and let your child know that it’s quiet time or independent playtime until the timer runs out.
Older kids might choose their own activities, but for younger kids, organize a few activities that you only offer and set up for them during these time blocks to make it novel and fun. Then, enjoy some time to read a chapter of a book you’ve been slowly plugging away at, do a face mask, or catch up on your favorite podcast.
Of course, for younger kids especially, you will need to supervise and gauge their ability to play alone and how long it will last, but eventually, this routine will catch on and real alone time for yourself will be possible.
Introducing younger kids to the concept of personal time will not only help you have a little space to take care of your needs, but it also encourages children in independent play, and lets kids know that it’s okay for them to need some alone time as well.
You can also make “me time” something your child looks forward to by following up after the time block with some quality time, such as reading books, playing their favorite game, kicking a ball around, or enjoying a special treat together.
We hope you take a look at your family schedule, get creative, and create some time to take care of you!