Put your phone face down. We count how long you go without touching it.
Turn your phone face down
The timer starts when it’s face down.
Linked: your computer shows the clock.
Put it back face down to keep going.
Study Timer for Laptop
This study timer for laptop runs in your browser on Windows or Mac, with nothing to download. Pick a 25, 50 or 90-minute block and press start; to count phone pickups, scan the QR code and put your phone face down.
It’s free, with no account and no signup.
A study timer on your laptop needs your phone to count pickups
A study timer counts the minutes. It has no way to know how many of them went to your phone.
The usual fixes are the phone in another room, or an app blocker you install and give permissions to. Here your phone joins the timer through a QR code and lies face down, and every time you pick it up, it gets caught.
Free. No signup. Nothing to install.
On average, students studying at home got distracted in under 6 minutes
Researchers watched 263 middle school, high school and university students during a 15-minute study session at home.
On average, they spent only 65% of those 15 minutes actually studying. The rest of the time they were distracted, most often by social media and texting.
Source: Rosen, Carrier and Cheever, Facebook and texting made me do it: media-induced task-switching while studying, Computers in Human Behavior, 2013.
See how your own session compares.
Your record on this device
Finish a session and your totals show up here. They are stored in this browser only.
- Sessions
- 0
- Phone-free time
- 0 min
- Times caught
- 0
- Longest without touching it
- 0 min
Your phone counts the pickups once you scan the QR code
The QR code sits beside the clock, and your phone opens the timer with the same block length.
Lift the phone, lock it or open another app, and you get a CAUGHT stamp, a sound and a live timer showing how long you’ve been on your phone.
Free. No signup. Nothing to install.
Nothing to download: the timer runs in your laptop’s browser
Open this page in any up-to-date browser and press start. It keeps time from your computer’s clock, so it stays accurate in a background tab.
Free. No signup. Nothing to install.
The end card on your phone shows your phone-free time
Press Finish on the phone to see your phone-free time, your pickups and your longest phone-free stretch.
On the laptop alone, the card shows your study time and lists pickups as not tracked.
Save it as an image or share it.
Free. No signup. Nothing to install.
- Session length
- 50:00
- In your hand
- 08:48
- Picked up the phone
- 9
- Longest without touching it
- 11:20
Motion readings from your phone never leave your browser
- The motion sensor only tells the page whether the phone is face down. Each reading is checked in your browser and dropped. None are saved or sent.
- No sign-up and no email. Visits are counted with Google Analytics, which never sees your timer or your phone.
- Your totals sit in this browser’s storage. Clear your browsing data and they are gone.
- The end card is made on your device. Nobody sees it unless you save or share it.
Read exactly what the site stores and loads.
No account. Nothing to install.
This timer counts pickups and keeps your phone in reach, with nothing to install
| Caught Scrolling | Regular study timer | App blocker | Phone in another room | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counts your phone pickups | ||||
| Shows your phone-free time | Some show screen time | |||
| Nothing to install | ||||
| Phone stays in reach for emergencies | ||||
| Physically stops you using apps |
Free. No signup. Nothing to install.
How it works, in three steps
-
Press start on your laptop
Pick a 25, 50 or 90-minute block, or a custom one, then press start.
-
Scan the QR code
Your phone opens the same timer. Lay it face down, and every pickup counts as a catch.
-
Press Finish
You get your phone-free time, your pickups and your longest stretch without touching your phone, on one card.
Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.