READY
READY
Two hours is a film, an exam paper, a parking meter and a slow oven, which is an odd set of things to have in common until you notice that all four are as long as people will stay put without a proper break.
It is also the shape of a work block for anyone whose job arrives in whole pieces: a chapter, a repair, a batch of marking. Two hours is long enough to reach the part of a job that only appears once the easy parts are out of the way.
The tip is about the ending. Set the timer for ten minutes less than the time you actually have and use the last ten to stop properly: save, note where you got to, and leave yourself a sentence for next time. Work that ends mid-thought costs twenty minutes of re-reading tomorrow, which is more than the ten you spent.
Press start or hit the space bar. The tab title counts down as well, so a hidden tab still tells you how long is left.
Yes. The finish is stored as a clock time, so a sleeping machine, a locked phone or a closed lid does not stretch the countdown. Reopen the page and it shows the truth.
Turn on desktop notifications and it will. The switch asks for permission only when you turn it on, which is the one moment a browser is likely to grant it.
After a few minutes hidden, browsers slow background timers to about once a minute to save power. The time stays correct; only how often it is redrawn changes.