Five minutes for a break
In the Pomodoro Technique, created by Francesco Cirillo, you work for 25 minutes and then take a short break of about five minutes; after four rounds you take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. Start this timer when you step away, and the alarm brings you back. The ping at one minute left gives you time to refill a glass and sit down before it rings.
Five-minute talks
Short talk formats run on five minutes. An Ignite talk has 20 slides that advance automatically every 15 seconds, five minutes in all, and many events give lightning talks a five-minute slot. Rehearse with this timer in full screen (press F) next to your notes: at the one-minute ping you should be starting your last four slides. If you run over, the status line counts the overtime after the alarm, so you know by how much.
For a moderated session, put the timer on a second screen facing the speaker. The Numbers only display gives the biggest digits, and the Buzzer cuts through applause.
Quick activities
Five minutes suits a warm-up question at the start of a lesson, a think-pair-share, a quick tidy, or a round of a party game. Show the Pie display on the projector so the group sees the time shrinking without reading numbers.
Tips
Press + to add a minute while the timer runs, and R to reset. For a whole Pomodoro work block, set 25 minutes in the boxes above. For longer activities, the 10 minute timer warns two minutes before the end.