Tag Archives: Timer

Smartphone-powered tabletop stopwatch concept turns deep focus into a game

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Our desks are filled with things that inspire us as well as objects that distract us, with our smartphones as the biggest culprits. Sure, we can probably justify having our phones close to us as necessary for work, but we don’t always need to be looking at them while we’re actually working. Notifications, videos and animations, and scrolling text all take our attention away from more important things, but uninstalling these apps completely induces a different kind of stress and worry. The situation doesn’t have to be black or white, though, and there are plenty of strategies to reduce distractions while keeping our phones still within reach, and you don’t even need the training of an ascetic monk to pull this off. In fact, it can even become a fun mini-game, like this tabletop stopwatch that turns getting into the zone into a dive for treasure.

Designers: Dagyeong Kim, Chanhee Park, Dugyeong Lee, Songhee Kim

There are actually some apps that use a similar method to encourage continuous periods of work without unlocking their phone. The idea is that there is some negative consequences when you pause or stop the timer by using the phone, like some virtual tree dying. These apps, however, still put the smartphone not only within reach but also in sight, increasing the temptation anyway. SINK is a concept that works the same way but adds a twist that not only puts the phone away but also makes the experience a bit more engaging.

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The inspiration behind SINK is the gaming consoles of old, where you insert a cartridge to play a game. The mechanism is simple and straightforward, removing any ambiguity or complications. In this case, however, it’s your smartphone that is the cartridge, and you slide it into the back of the SINK device to turn it on. The device only works if the phone is in the slot, so you’ll have to go out of your way to retrieve your phone even for just a few seconds.

The “game” in SINK’s case is a deep ocean dive, hence the concept’s name, where the longer you remain focused at work, the deeper your diver goes and the higher points you get. There’s some semblance of a ranking system, but the concept doesn’t clarify if you’re just competing with yourself or with others as well. The latter raises the stakes a bit for those with a bit of a competitive bent, but it might also work the opposite way and discourage others.

Using SINK is quite simple and the device itself has very few controls other than a dial and a slider. Of course, any strategy like SINK or the Forest app will only be effective if you’re actually doing the intended work during the allotted period of time. There’s still an element of self-control, but SINK’s playful design makes it look a bit more fun instead of serious work.

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One-of-a-kind ‘Candle Disc’ tracks the passage of time by melting wax in a different way

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Since time immemorial, candles have been used to track time, with the burning of the wick and the disintegration of the candle being used to calculate minutes and hours. Seokoo Yeo’s ‘Candle Go’ brings back that particular feature, but in a unique format. The Candle Go is a wax-warming apparatus that uses disc-shaped candles, melting them almost like a timer. The wax melts radially, sort of like hands of a clock, while gravity allows the candle disc to rotate. The result is a candle experience that’s distinctly unique, allowing you to visually measure time passed. Yeo designed the Candle Go to help you track goals and time spent being productive (sort of like a wax-based Pomodoro timer). At the end, the disc melts away to reveal a medal that rewards you for time spent pursuing your goals.

Designer: Seokoo Yeo

What the Candle Go explores so beautifully is a new way of burning wax. Traditional candles feature a standing design, with a vertical wick that lights at the top, gradually moving downwards as the wax melts away. Historically, markings on the side of the candle would then tell how much time had passed, helping people track minutes and hours. The Candle Go doesn’t do that – instead, it mounts a flat disc of wax on an axis, quite like a vertical CD player of sorts. Rather than having a wick on fire, the Candle Go uses a warming element that melts away parts of the wax in a radial style. The melted wax creates a weight imbalance, getting the disc to rotate on its own. This clever technique uses gravity to its advantage, allowing the entire disc to melt at the end. You can easily track the time just by staring a the shape of the disc. It visually represents a pie-chart of sorts, allowing you to easily and intuitively understand ratios and fractions, therefore figuring out how much time has passed.

The melted wax gathers in a chamber at the bottom, ensuring your tabletop doesn’t get covered with melted wax (the way you’d otherwise face with regular candles). There’s no fire involved too (which could be a safety hazard), although the candle does emanate a warm light that is diffused by the natural properties of the wax.

Once you’ve exhausted your candle disc (and received the reward inside), simply load another disc to keep tracking your goals, and the amount of time dedicated towards achieving them!

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Tactile lamp and timer concept fosters focus and mindfulness in work-from-home arrangements

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Although travel and work restrictions have mostly been lifted already, the office world is really no longer the same. It has now been proven that the work your bosses claim can only be done in the office can actually be done at home or even in a coffee shop, and so more flexible remote working conditions have started to take root in many companies. At the same time, however, the pandemic also proved that working from home is far from being the idyllic scenario that many people dreamed of in the past. Maintaining focus and motivation isn’t exactly easy to achieve, but this curious desk lamp helps develop that sense of balance between work and personal life using a very visual and tactile experience.

Designers: Pinar Aydogdu, Naren Yildirim, Nurbanu Kocak

One of the oldest productivity tricks in the book involves focusing on a single task for a certain amount of time and then taking a brief break before repeating the cycle all over again. Ironic as might sound, this technique, most popular by its “Pomodoro technique” moniker, actually helps you focus during those moments you are working. It also elevates rest to its proper place in our hectic lives, presenting it not as wasted time but as an important factor in boosting productivity.

You’d probably never think that a decorative desk lamp would be the tool to encourage that productivity practice, but the Fall concept design is exactly that. At its most basic, it is composed of a conical lamp standing on a circular base that has a rippling surface, almost like the ripples in a pond. The soft diffused light that the lamp gives isn’t going to be enough to illuminate your work, but that’s not the purpose of the lamp anyway. It works in conjunction with eight balls that magnetically attach to the top of the cone, turning this productivity practice into something like a game.

Each ball represents one hour of working time, so their total makes up an entire day’s work. At the start of your work day, you stick those balls at the top, and after an hour has passed, one ball falls down on the base. Because of the undulating surface of the base, the balls won’t roll off, but you can remove each ball as you please. In fact, you remove the ball from the base to signify that you’re taking a break and you put the ball back on the base when you’re back. If you don’t bring back the ball within a set amount of time, usually ten minutes, the lamp’s light will turn red to nudge you back to your work.

Fall is an interesting idea that encourages physical involvement in juggling those work hours, making sure you’re more mindful of your time instead of simply glancing at a clock or swiping an alarm away. The lamp itself gives a rather distinctive aesthetic, one that encourages play and interactivity instead of just looking pretty. Admittedly, it’s just a concept and one that will be rather complicated to implement in a real functioning device.

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Minimalist Pomodoro timer promises distraction-free productivity

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There are plenty of productivity techniques floating around the Internet, but one of the most popular ones has actually been around even before the Web as we know now came to be. Named after a tomato-shaped kitchen timer, the Pomodoro technique is so simple that it’s too easy to brush it off as trivial, but its effectiveness has also been known for decades. Of course, that has also led to plenty of apps and gadgets that embrace the hype while forgetting the spirit and actually induce stress and distractions rather than productivity. Fortunately, there are better and more creative ways to design a Pomodoro timer, like this minimalist beauty that allows you to enjoy the simple benefits of the technique without having to rely on a clunky analog timer, especially one that looks like an awkward tomato on your desk.

Designer: Gary Peng

The Pomodoro technique is extremely simple and takes advantage of the fact that the human brain can only concentrate on a single thing for a short period of time. In theory, you do that single thing for 25 minutes and then take a break for 5 minutes before repeating the process. Because it’s that simple, you really don’t need complicated tools other than a timer, whether it’s a mechanical kitchen timer or a smartphone app, both of which come with their pros and cons. That kitchen timer can look odd on your desk and a mobile app risks distracting you with other things on your device.

POD is a tool that combines the feeling of an analog timer with the convenience of an electronic device in a simple yet attractive form. It’s nothing more than a small white puck that has five very discreet dot lights on top arranged in an arc. There is no control other than pushing the puck down like a button, which is what starts the countdown.

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Each dot of light represents either five or one minutes, depending on the mode. When you’re in “work” mode, the lights count down to 25 minutes in total, while “break” mode is the usual five-minute period of rest. The POD is also minimally distracting, using only flashing lights to get your attention rather than sounds or vibrations. This means you can easily use it in environments where you need to be very quiet, like in a library.

The POD also relies on trusty CR2032 batteries that you can easily replace, so you won’t have to worry about running out of juice for a long time. Its minimalist charm will make it look at home on any desk, table, or shelf, and doesn’t induce the same tension and stress the same way that a ticking kitchen timer would.

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Meditation timer concept looks hi-tech and probably too distracting

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Although there are definitely a number of naysayers, meditation practices have become quite popular these days in response to the deafening busyness of the world around us. There’s no shortage of services, strategies, and gizmos advertised to help get into that state of calm, but you don’t really need most of those just to meditate. At the very least, all you need is a timer which every smartphone today has. Unfortunately, those smartphones are just too tempting once you place them in your hand, and some opt to have a standalone timer instead. This gadget concept tries to offer such a simple functionality, though with some bells and whistles that, ironically, could prove to be a source of distraction themselves.

Designer: Liudmila Andreeva

Truth be told, some people do need some prompts or guidance to get into that meditative state, which is what guided meditation apps and services try to offer. But once they get used to the process, those aids just become distracting and defeat the purpose. By that stage, all you really need is something that will cue you when it’s time to start and when you need to end the meditation. While any old timer, digital or otherwise, will suffice, why not design something that really takes that utility to the next level?

That might be the impetus behind Decima, a timer designed specifically just for meditation. Like any timer, you get to set the duration of the time and the interval of the reminders. Unlike analog timers, however, you have the ability to set the bell tones, volume, and brightness of the display. And yes, it even has a guided mode if that’s how you like to do things.

The Decima Timer concept offers these functions through easy-to-use buttons on the sides and top of the device. An LCD display on the front shows the time as well as other useful information, like the current mode or setting you’re in. LED lighting shining through the front grille adds a nice accent that makes the device look visually interesting or even mesmerizing.

Of course, your smartphone has the same features, but having a dedicated timing device saves you from the tempting distractions of your phone’s screen. That said, Decima itself might prove to be a distraction because of the multitude of buttons and settings you can play around with. The appearance of the device, while quite attractive, can also cause your eyes and mind to wander away from your meditation, defeating the purpose of what the timer is meant to accomplish.

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Hourglass goes digital with concept for classic sandtimer

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One of my fondest childhood memories is playing games with friends and families using an hourglass sandtimer to count down the minutes. Games like Boggle and Taboo were made all the more fun because you could see the seconds slipping by before it’s your turn and your opponents are running out of time. But when our phones became smarter, we of course turned to these digital devices to count the seconds down and the alarm blaring causes us a different kind of anxiety or joy.

Designer: Fabio Verdelli and Anna Lazzaron

There are those who would prefer to use a timer that doesn’t have any of the other distractions that a smartphone would have, like messages, notifications, calls, and even that pesky alarm tone. A device that can bridge the analog idea of an hourglass and the digital convenience of a timer is found in this product concept called Passatempo, a smart hourglass. It is able to retain the elegant design of the hourglass sand timer but this time, it is able to add a digital concept to it that makes it more elegant.

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There isn’t really much of a description to it but based on the product renders, it doesn’t seem to use actual sand like in the traditional timers. It is still enclosed in a glass structure and the cone shape is still there and you can see the seconds or minutes passing by as it transfers from one cone to another. This time though you will be able to set how long it needs to “pour” through an app. You can use it to set a timer for when you’re cooking or to give you a visual idea of when it’s time for an appointment or you can use it for board games as well.

Of course the most convenient way really to set alarms and timers is on your smartwatch or smartphone. But if you want something a bit unusual or something that looks pretty elegant or just something that kind of looks analog, then the Passatempo may be something you’ll be interested in.

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