Blog — Visual Timers

Jean-Robert De Cavel is a French Master celebrity chef and a huge fan of Time Timer. When we asked him to be a part of our 25^th Anniversary Celebration, we weren’t sure what to expect. However, he walked into the photoshoot fully prepared – with all his outfits, ready to be photographed, and, man, was he passionate. Chefs are meant to be passionate – they are known for being passionate – but maybe not so much about the Time Timer. And for that, he was.

In December, Jean-Robert De Cavel publicly announced that he is fighting leiomyosarcoma, an aggressive soft tissue cancer. He was diagnosed in May. This meant that he was fighting it during the photoshoot, unbeknownst to anyone outside of his close circle of family and friends. We would have never known with his energy and charisma. We wish him all best in his battle and hope for a speedy recovery!

This is a man that creates creative dishes known throughout the world, and not surprisingly, has also come up with creative ways to use the Time Timer. Below is his Time Timer Story.

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Jean-Robert de Cavel’s daughter was quite young when a friend gave him his first Time Timer. Around his busy home, he found several successful uses for the visual timer with the big red disk — including helping his daughter with her homework. She stayed on track, and he didn’t have to constantly watch the time for her. Then one day, a light bulb went off — he imagined the endless possibilities for Time Timer in his world-class kitchens. So, he packed it up and took it to the restaurant.

Today, Time Timer helps the front-of-house staff and kitchen staff communicate accurately and silently at Jean-Robert’s six restaurants. Everything from eggs to bread is timed down to the second to ensure they are prepared to perfection before placed on customers’ plates. And, the visibility of the timer and optional alarm keeps the kitchen quiet, preserving the restaurant’s ambience.

Jean-Robert has used a Time Timer both at home and work, and he depends on it to provide precise communication without saying a word.

Every community includes people who have disabilities, and you may find yourself wanting to get involved. But how can you make a difference? And encourage your community to be more inclusive? We have four ideas for supporting people with disabilities, and we think you’ll build some new relationships in the process.

Katya Seberson is a results-oriented SAT and ACT tutor. After struggling through school with dyslexia and a learning disability, Katya taught herself new learning techniques that allowed her to succeed. The company she started, ExecutiveMind, Inc., has helped students commonly gain 190+ on the SAT and 4+ points on the ACT. 

By Katya Seberson

As far as we know, human beings are the only mammals who can tell time.

Since the clock has become a permanent fixture our homes ONLY around the 16th century, telling time is a relatively new feature in our evolution, and we (humans) are horrible at time perception. Let me explain.

Time perception is your ability to sense how much time has passed since you started doing something. Let’s say you are writing an essay on a piece of paper (weird, I know), and tell yourself, “let me spend 10 minutes on this paragraph.” How likely is it that you will put your pen down in exactly 10 minutes? Unless you have a clock in sight, there is an almost 100% guarantee you won’t stop after exactly 10 minutes. If you are engaged in a task, you will likely spend more time (time flies when you are having fun), and if you are stuck, you will likely spend less then 10 minutes... “a watched pot never boils.”

We are lousy at telling time because our brain is NOT designed to sense time well. We have areas in our brain dedicated to sight, hearing, smelling, etc. that have been perfected through evolution, but there is NO distinct area in the brain exclusively devoted to sensing time.

What about the biological clock, you ask?

Yes, our biological clock relies on messages from our vital systems to compose a prediction about how much time has passed. Scientists agree that the brain may have several different clocks working together, but independently, the brain selects a “winner” from these different possible timings depending on the context.

Why should I care about telling time if I can always look at the clock?

Developing a good sense of time is a valuable skill in many areas of personal development. Many of you know that the time management industry (teaching people how to manage their schedules) has exploded in the last few years. Many people feel inadequate when they are unable to tell how much time has passed since the meeting, the exam, or the call has started. In my work as a tutor, I see students continuously run out of time on a test as they lack knowing how much time they’ve spent so far on a problem and how much time is left.

The Time Timer has been a magical tool for my students and myself to develop the time perception skill. Because it’s visual, the brain can now lean on the visual cortex (one of the largest areas in the brain) to help itself develop a good sense of how much time has passed and how much time is left. As you are working, the red circle keeps disappearing, letting you know that the time is ticking away, setting the rhythm.

Because the circle is large and very vivid, you can sense how much time is left with your peripheral vision without even looking at the clock directly — no need to stop your task and switch your attention to the clock. I have my Time Timer right next to me as I am typing this article. It shows that I have 15 minutes left of the time I planned to spend on writing this short article for you.

Notice, my eyes are glued to the screen, and I keep my focus on the task, and I am not checking my phone and getting distracted. The Time Timer is a great tool to develop an invaluable sense of time, focus and perfect your time management at work or school.

I have created a video dedicated to using the Pomodoro Method along with The Time Timer. Hope you enjoy it!

Tomorrow, Meghan Markle will shock the world when she begins her walk down the aisle alone, asserting independence as a feminist, then escorted by Prince Charles, her future father-in-law, on her way to becoming the first black member of the House of Windsor.

But that’s not the only headline shocking the system: Analog clocks, which have long-adorned classroom walls, stately entries and, of course, on Big Ben, are going the way of fruitcake for weddings.

With the rise of cell phones and digital clocks, the U.K. has run into a modern problem: students are having trouble reading analog clocks. This issue has become so rampant that officials in the U.K. have begun removing analog clocks from examination halls and classrooms, according to recent reports.

In advance of Autism Awareness Month, which begins next week, Time Timer and a group of like-minded companies that create sensory tools for individuals with autism curated the Essential Eight Sensory Tools to help individuals (and, especially, children) with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) navigate everyday life without sensory overload.

“Many parents of children newly diagnosed with autism aren’t aware of the many tools that can help them and their child manage the stress in everyday activities that the disorder can create,” says Heather Rogers, Vice President, Marketing & Operations of Time Timer, one of the essential tools. “We want to make it easier for parents to find ways to help their children feel calm and have their senses stimulated. From chewy jewelry to weighted pets to silent fidgets, this virtual toolbox of sensory products was designed with them and their child in mind.”

The new Time Timer ®  20 MIN has generated a lot of buzz since its release—it even won a Mom’s Choice Award ®! Parents, teachers, and business professionals are loving this easy-to-read visual timer that keeps everyone on track and on time. Here are 20 ways to use your Time Timer 20 MIN:

All it takes is a quick twist to set the new Time Timer TWIST ®!  Portable, magnetic and sporting a digital display, this new update on the classic Time Timer is great for kids and adults. Just turn the outer ring to set your desired time, and then push the play button—it’s that simple. The easy-to-read digital display shows at a glance how much time remains, as the digital tick marks disappear.

The 90-minute duration is perfect for school, home, or office, and the magnetic back makes the Time Timer TWIST easy to display—it sticks on everything from refrigerators to file cabinets to white boards. Like all Time Timer devices, it’s silent and unobtrusive, with an alert sound when time is up. And at just over 3 inches in diameter, it’s extremely portable and easy to take anywhere you go!

Use it in the classroom to time tests, group activities, and turn-taking exercises, or help keep students with special needs on task. Use it in the office to keep track of presentations and team-building exercises. At home, keep morning and bedtime routines on track, or time homework and instrument practice. The Time Timer TWIST even makes a great kitchen timer!

You’ve trusted the original Time Timer to help keep you on track and on time. Now the Time Timer TWIST provides a new way to enjoy the same reliable visual time management resource. And the low price means you can keep more than one on hand, for any time you need to make everyday tasks easier and more productive.

The classic Time Timer® Android App has been updated and improved! This digital version of the original visual timer is now compatible with Chromebooks, making it a natural fit for Google Education classrooms and many other uses!