How to use the online timer
Fifteen minutes doing nothing in particular is harder to arrange than it sounds, especially in a flat where somebody else is always awake. It is not sleep, not a phone, and not television — simply a defined stretch where nothing is required. The defining is the difficult part, which is exactly what a countdown is for.
Lie down or sit somewhere comfortable, put the phone in another room, and let the fifteen minutes run without checking. Music without words is fine; anything with a plot is not. Keep this browser tab open on a laptop or a speaker across the room, since the countdown ends the moment the page closes and the whole point is not having to think about it.
Deliberate rest and collapsing in front of a screen are not the same thing, and most people can tell the difference afterwards. Fifteen minutes taken on purpose in the late afternoon often does more for an evening than an hour taken by accident at eleven at night. It is also one of the few things on this list that requires no equipment, no space and no plan.
Common questions
Is this the same as watching something?
No, and most people can tell the difference afterwards. Music without words is fine; anything with a plot occupies attention rather than releasing it, which is what the fifteen minutes is for.
When in the day does it work well?
Late afternoon tends to do more for an evening than the same fifteen minutes taken by accident at eleven at night. Taken deliberately is the important part rather than the exact hour.
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