They stare you in the face and countdown to the end of a pre-defined time.
What do they really do?
They stare you in the face and give you the indication that this thing you’re working on, this thing you don’t want to do that you wish would end, will be over, at some point, boiled down to minutes and seconds (no one sets a timer for an over an hour).
And they get you focused – because if anyone comes up to you and says – “do you think you can do this for 30 minutes?” – your first response would be – “of course, I can”.
Set the Timer and stand back at what you can do.
