Blog — Visual Timers

How Visual Learners Can Benefit From Time Timer
Time Timer from its origin was designed to “show” the passage of time through the use of a colored disk. This makes it an incredible useful tool for visual learners of any age and ability.
The Best Ways to Help Children Transition to Winter Break
As children transition into winter break, the schedule change can cause chaos. In today’s blog post we are discussing some ways to support children as they transition to winter break. Here’s to a stress-free and happy holiday break!
2022 Time Timer Holiday Gift Guide: Our 5 Favorites for 2022!
It’s time … our Time Timer Gift Guide is here! We’re sharing our top five gift ideas for the holiday season. The Time Timer family of products are perfect for helping all the special people in your life make every moment count!

New Products Available Just in Time for the Holiday Season
Just in time for the holiday season! Today we are highlighting all our new products so you can start your holiday shopping early. Read on to see what Time Timer has to offer this holiday season.
Support Your Goals in the New Year with Time Timer
As we look ahead to the new year, Time Timer is excited to share our new product line-up designed to support you and your goals for less stress and more fun.
How Time Timer Brought Peace to One Family After an Autism Diagnosis
Terri found Time Timer when she was searching for ways to help her son, Bayley, in his daily life. Bayley is on the autism spectrum and can have difficulty transitioning from one activity to the next. So, when Terri discovered the remarkably simple Time Timer (when Bayley was just 4 years old), she imagined all of the ways it could improve his life.
Making Moments Count in the Restaurants of Jean-Robert De Cavel
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 25th 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.

4 Easy Ways to Support People with Disabilities
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.

Guest Blog: A Tutor's Perspective of the Time Timer
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!

Celebrating 25 Years: A Thank You from Time Timer President, Dave Rogers
Time Timer has come a long way over the past 25 years. What started as a one-woman show in our family garage has grown to help students, parents, teachers, and professionals around the world.
Tips From a Parenting Expert That Uses the Time Timer in Everyday Life
Allana Robinson is a Parenting Effectiveness Coach in Western Canada. As a parenting coach for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, and a previous Early Childhood Educator and Developmental Specialist, Allana talks about all the ways Time Timers have helped in her everyday life and the lives of her clients.
Scandal Across the Pond: No, it’s not Meghan Markle’s Half Siblings
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.