What this timer is for
Stare at a screen long enough and your eyes forget how to relax. The tiny muscles that pull your lens into focus stay clenched for hours, and that’s a big chunk of why your eyes feel dry, gritty, and tired by 4 PM. Optometrists have a fix that costs nothing: the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look at something roughly 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
Sounds easy. In practice you forget within five minutes. That’s the whole reason this timer exists. It counts down your 20-minute work block, chimes, then runs a 20-second break countdown so you actually hold the gaze long enough to matter. Then it loops.
How it works
Hit Start and the big clock begins counting down from 20 minutes. Keep working. When it hits zero, you’ll hear a soft two-tone chime and the card flips green with a fresh 20-second countdown that says “look 20 feet away.” Pick a spot across the room, out a window, down a hallway, whatever’s far. Hold it until the timer runs out. Then the work block restarts on its own.
A few controls worth knowing:
- Pause freezes the countdown exactly where it is. Resume picks up from the same second, so a phone call doesn’t wreck your cycle.
- Reset wipes everything back to a fresh 20-minute block and zeroes the break counter.
- Break now jumps straight into a rest if your eyes are already aching, instead of waiting out the clock.
- The breaks taken counter tallies how many full rest periods you’ve completed, which is oddly motivating once you see the number climb.
Want a chime? Leave the sound box checked. It uses a quick synthesized tone, no audio file to load. Tick the desktop notification box and the timer will pop a system alert even when this tab is in the background, so you don’t have to keep it on screen. Your browser will ask permission the first time.
Why 20 feet, specifically
At about 20 feet your eyes are basically at rest. The focusing muscle, the ciliary muscle, relaxes almost fully once an object is roughly six meters out, which is why eye charts sit at that distance. Closer than that and the muscle is still doing work. So the number isn’t arbitrary marketing. It’s the point where near-focus strain effectively switches off.
The 20 seconds matters too. A quick glance won’t cut it. Researchers landed on 20 seconds because that’s about how long it takes your eyes to fully relax and refresh your tear film with a couple of blinks. Shorter, and you’re not really giving them the reset.
You can change both intervals if you like. Running a Pomodoro session at 25 minutes? Set the work block to 25. Want a longer 30-second stare? Bump the break. The defaults follow the rule, but the tool bends to your rhythm.
Tips for actually sticking with it
Blink on purpose during the break. People blink about a third as often when reading a screen, which dries the eye surface fast. A few slow, full blinks during those 20 seconds rehydrate things.
Pair the far gaze with a stretch. Roll your shoulders or stand up while you stare across the room. Screen fatigue is rarely just your eyes.
Don’t fake it. Glancing at your phone is not “20 feet away.” The point is distance, so the screen has to leave your hands.
Common questions
Does this actually prevent eye damage? The 20-20-20 rule reduces digital eye strain symptoms like dryness, blur, and fatigue. It isn’t a cure for nearsightedness, but it’s the single most recommended habit eye doctors give screen workers.
Will the timer keep running if I switch tabs? Yep. It uses deadline-based timing, so even if the browser throttles the background tab, the countdown stays accurate and the chime still fires. Turn on desktop notifications and you’ll get an alert without watching the tab.
Why doesn’t the sound play sometimes? Browsers block audio until you interact with the page. Once you click Start, the chime is unlocked for the session. If it’s still silent, check that the sound box is ticked and your device isn’t muted.
Can I use a different interval than 20 minutes? Sure. Both the work length and the break length are editable. The 20-20-20 defaults are loaded in, but nothing stops you from running 50-minute deep-work blocks with a 30-second rest.
Is anything sent to a server? Nope. The countdown, the chime, the notifications, all of it runs in your browser. Close the tab and it’s gone, no account, no tracking.