This page opens with the timer already set to 30 minutes. Press Start or hit the spacebar and it begins; when time is up the alarm rings and the disk blinks. You can always drag the disk to a different time.
Thirty minutes, five days a week
The World Health Organization recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. Thirty minutes on five days adds up to exactly that.
- Press Start when you begin moving, not when you open the page.
- Turn on a 5-minute heads-up as your cue to slow down and cool off.
- Mark the day on a calendar so the week’s 150 minutes are easy to check.
A reading block
Half an hour is enough for a chapter of most books and short enough to fit before bed. Leave your phone in another room and let the disk be the only thing you check.
Students often pair a 30-minute block with a 5-minute break. Set those lengths in the Pomodoro tab to run them back to back.
Reading a 30-minute disk
Thirty minutes is exactly half the 60-minute dial: the disk fills the right half, from 12 down to 6 o’clock. Once the edge passes the 15 label, you are in the last quarter of an hour.
Questions about the 30 minute timer
Does 30 minutes a day meet the WHO activity guideline?
Thirty minutes on five days makes 150 minutes a week, the minimum the WHO recommends for adults’ moderate-intensity activity.
Can I read the timer from across the room while I exercise?
Press F for Focus mode. It fills the screen with the disk and the digits, so you can read them from a mat or a treadmill.
What happens when the half hour is up?
Your chosen alarm sound plays, the disk blinks three times, and the session is saved to today’s history.