Use Google Search as an Online Timer

Do you need a simple timer to remind you of upcoming tasks like picking up the laundry, making that phone call to your client or for sticking to the Pomodoro technique. There are good web apps, e.ggtimer.com for example, that let you create countdown timers in the browser quickly but you probably don’t need them anymore.

That’s because you can now setup online timers inside Google itself by entering the timer command in the search box in the following format (the word “set” is optional):

timer for <time> OR set timer for <time>

The <time> can use a combination of hours, minutes and seconds. For instance, you may use search commands like set timer for 20 seconds or timer for 1 hour 2 minutes and the timer will spring into action. When the time has passed, the browser plays a sound.

One more thing. Instead of setting the time in the search command, you can just use the search query “timer” inside Google and then manually set the timer.

This tip is courtesy Lifehacker. And while we on the topic of online timers, you should also check out timer-tab.com – this one lets you set any YouTube video as the notification alarm.