Circular desk concept has an interesting way of measuring the time you spend on it

A lot of people feel that there aren’t enough hours in a day without realizing how much time they might be spending or even wasting on unimportant activities. Keeping track of how you spend your time is often one of the first pieces of advice that productivity gurus give because they often reveal how much free time we actually have if we schedule our actions wisely. There is no shortage of time-tracking and logging apps today, but these digital tools are sometimes easily dismissed or ignored because they’re too convenient. This rather unusual table, however, makes the passage of time a bit more visible and tangible, allowing people to have a more personal relationship with the time they invest in work, projects, and other activities.

Designer: Yunseo Jung

Right off the bat, the Time Table already strikes an interesting visual. Unlike the majority of desks and tables, it’s made almost completely out of circles, from the tabletop to the built-in lamp to the rods that make for its legs and structure. One side of the table shows that leg, but the other side has an arc that functions like a privacy shield. There is also a matching circular tool to complete the set, though such a design isn’t actually novel to this kind of furniture.

While a circular table isn’t exactly rare, the attached “sub table” is. It’s a smaller circular tray affixed to the exposed leg of the table, but that’s not what makes it unique. This sub-table actually moves up and down, changing its elevation as time passes before returning to its base state at the lowest point. Think of it as a time, like a reverse hourglass, that slowly demonstrates the movement of time in a very visual manner.

The basic idea of the Time Table is to let the person sitting in front of it measure, log, and be aware of how much time they’re spending there. You might place some tools related to your work there or anything else that you’ll be able to notice in the corner of your eye. It offers a visual and tangible experience in counting down time without being monotonous like watching seconds tick by. Admittedly, it might also be a bit distracting, which could also be the point of instilling awareness of your time.

Novel as the concept might be, there are also a few issues with the Time Table’s design. The position of the elements, for example, might not be ergonomic or comfortable, with the lamp at a fixed spot and the privacy shield at the side potentially blocking leg movement. Given its design, there seems to also be little room for changing the height of the table, which could be too low or too high for some people. The moving sub-table as a time tracker is definitely an interesting idea, but it could probably be implemented in a different way that doesn’t negatively affect the rest of the table’s functionality.

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This ultra-minimalist watch teaches you the importance of time by not telling the time

Some objects are defined by the function they provide. A phone wouldn’t be a phone if you can’t communicate using it, and a watch or a clock makes no sense if it doesn’t tell the time. While these products provide important functionality, but they can also be detrimental to one’s mental health when they become sources of distraction and stress. It might sound odd how a watch can actually be harmful, but our obsession with time and busyness ironically makes us less appreciative of this critical finite resource. This simple yet attractive timepiece tries to rewire your brain by making you feel time rather than see it, teaching you to be mindful of the present moment rather than fretting over every second or minute that passes by.

Designer: Mads Hindhede Svanegaard

Click Here to Buy Now: $182 $222 (18% off). Hurry, only 37/150 left! Raised over $90,000.

People today are obsessed with time, running from one schedule to the next, yet ironically seem to lose time anyway. More often than not, the problem isn’t just about time management but actually being aware and mindful of your time, particularly the present time. As if regular watches weren’t enough to make you always conscious of the time, smartwatches bring even more ways to distract you or feed into your time obsession. The STUND timepiece is a counter-movement to this time-focused productivity trend, reminding us that it isn’t about being on time but about being in time, and it does that by removing everything that tells you the current time.

Sends out a smooth vibrating pulse.

It makes you feel the constant flow of time and aware of the present moment.

Select 1 of 4 time cycles you want to experience.

Calling the STUND a watch might be a bit of a misnomer in that sense, but it still keeps track of time in a completely different way. At fixed intervals of 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes, depending on your preference, STUND will send gentle pulses to your wrist, calling your attention back to the present. When repeated enough times, you start to develop your “mindfulness muscles” so that you become more aware of where you’ve been spending the last minutes or hours, whether it’s mindlessly scrolling on your phone or actually getting important things done.

You might think it odd to wear a timepiece that doesn’t tell the time, but the STUND is fortunately something you’d be proud to put on your wrist. Machined from a single block of high-grade 316 stainless steel, the timepiece is designed to not only last the test of time (no pun intended) but to also lead and amplify the vibrations from the chassis to your wrist, creating a comfortable nudge when it comes time to immerse yourself in the present moment again. The leather straps, be they genuine or vegan, perfectly complement the hand-polished mirror finish of the “watch,” making the STUND a stunning example of Danish craftsmanship.

Whether you’re drowning from the busyness of life or feel like you’re always losing track of time, you’ll need a better strategy to not only survive but also reclaim your life. You don’t really need volumes of self-help books or expensive subscriptions to meditation services when all you need is to remember to stand in the present, fully mindful and aware of this one particular point in time. The STUND timepiece brings a simple yet effective tool to develop that mindfulness muscle, while also putting an elegant and stylish accessory on your wrist so you won’t miss your stress-inducing watch at all.

Click Here to Buy Now: $182 $222 (18% off). Hurry, only 37/150 left! Raised over $90,000.

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Designed to mimic the setting sun, this reinterpretation of the analog wall clock brings it into the modern era!

Nick is a reinterpretation of the traditional analog clock, replacing hour and minute hands and markers with a sophisticated glass container that keeps an hourglass, ambient lighting, and sand to represent the slow descent of the sun.

The bad news is analog clocks are gradually reaching their point of obsolescence. The good news is new products are taking their place. There’s a comfort that comes with wall and desk lamps. It could be the constant tick-tock that feels soothing or the nostalgia that’s practically synonymous with a grandfather clock. Whatever it is, clocks bring a certain charm to every home.

Bonding the comfort of a grandfather clock and the peace that comes with watching a sunset, Seoul-based design group Low Roof conceptualized Nick, a reinterpretation of the traditional analog clock that replaces minute and hour hands with an hourglass, ambient lighting, and sand.

Designed to resemble the changing light display of the sun, the creatives behind Nick describe its inspiration, “The Nick was inspired by the sunset that symbolizes the end of the day. It was designed based on the circle of the sun, the visual elements of the slowly darkening sunset, and the principle of using the hour clock.”

Nodding to the sand-filled hourglass that indicated the passing of time throughout the day, Low Roof says, “The sand slowly obscures the light to adjust the illumination level.”

As the day goes on, the sand in the hourglass passes from the top chamber into the bottom one, indicating how much time has passed since sunrise.

Come dusk, the light inside of Nick is partially blocked and softened by the sand that grows in height to mimic the look of the sunset outside. Envisioned in a dark wood, olive green glass, and brass-dyed aluminum exterior, Nick fits right into the modern home.

Designer: Low Roof

The Nick is designed to capture the feeling of watching the sunset. 

Encased in a blown-glass container, the Nick features a sand-filled hourglass and ambient lighting. 

Just like a regular analog clock, Nick’s timing can be adjusted at any time. 

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MIT researchers have built the most precise atomic clock to date

MIT researchers have built what they say is the most precise atomic clock to date. Their approach could help scientists explore questions such as the effect of gravity on the passage of time and whether time changes as the universe gets older. More a...

The magnetic levitating spheres of this abstract clock makes time-telling a futuristic experience!

Time is constantly moving forward and also never seems to move quickly enough. The time of day is the first thing we learn when we wake up in the morning and from that moment on, it guides us everywhere. The hour and second hands are the pillars that give our world structure to help make sense of it. It’s no wonder clocks are circular as, in many ways, time makes the world go ‘round. But what would happen if the way we read time changed entirely? What would it look like?

The designers, led by Alfredo Mendez with Bitshake Studio, behind O’clock took it upon themselves to find out. In 2020, O’clock recently received Red Dot’s Design Award for its meditative storytelling techniques and innovative re-interpretation of time through design. The timepiece connects to your WiFi router, recognizing your specific timezone, in order to provide accurate information regarding the time of day. Then, a built-in IMU, a tool that collects data regarding a device’s movement, measures its location around the timepiece’s circle and adjusts the clock’s indicators accordingly with each second. The indicators used are three separate, metallic spheres that move with the changing hours, minutes, and seconds of each day. The second-sphere rotates along the bottom perimeter of the timepiece, the minute-sphere travels the front-facing perimeter, and the hour-sphere slides along the inside of the clock. These indicators work thanks to 132 linear PCB motors that are embedded inside the clock’s metallic body, which support and connect a magnetic field that works around the clock, 24/7, 365! This provides an electromagnetic field that keeps the spheres rotating as long as time keeps moving.

Time is absolute, which is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as, “true, right, or the same in all situations and not depending on anything else.” Time is absolute because humans have made it so, but O’clock redefines the way we read it. Since time is a human-centered concept, it travels in an absolute forward motion, which in turn keeps each of us moving forward, but O’clock is distinct in its own construct of time, making the way O’clock presents time as an entirely centerless concept.

This Project is a 2020 Red Dot: Design Concept winner.

Designer: Alfredo Mendez x Bitshake Studio

Time Magazine is recreating the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in VR

For many people, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington and the famous "I Have a Dream" speech exist as little more than photos and soundbites -- only the 200,000-plus people who were there can give you a sense of what it was really like....

This clock creates ripples in sand for the first half of the day… and then erases them

Think about the way you are in the day. You spend one half of the day working, interacting, eating, filling your mind with thoughts, and the second half disseminating, relaxing, and sleeping. The SAND clock by Studio Ayaskan is a beautiful representation of our time in the 24 hours of a day. With just one hand that makes rounds around the clock’s sand-filled bed, the SAND clock’s hand creates ripples in the sand as it moves along in the first 12 hours of the day, and then erases them over the next 12 hours, resetting itself just the way the human body and mind does.

The SAND is just conceptually and in execution, a brilliant installation that tells time. It sits horizontally, with a sand-filled base, and a steadily moving hand that has rake-like spokes on one side, and a flat edge on another side. For the first 12 hours of the day, from midnight to noon, the rake-edge of the hand faces downwards, gently creating a ripple in the flat sand for 12 straight hours. Once the hand reaches the 12 o’clock position at noon, it flips over to have the flat edge pointing downwards, erasing the ripples in a calming, meditative way, not only telling the time but also acting as a metaphor for how we are active for one half of the day and passive for the other, as well as the repetitive nature of each day being followed by the next!

Designer: Studio Ayaskan