Simple Pleasures: My Old-fashioned Kitchen Timer

[catherine]

So, I've been pulling together Best Practices for overcoming procrastination and getting things done, and I must say, my kitchen timer (suggested by FlyLady) has to be one of the best things I've ever bought (Ocean City Job Lot: $4.99).

In the past I've tried using my iPhone timer for the same purpose: to set aside a finite amount of time to get something done. But for some reason, there's something about the physical winding of the dial and then the tick-tick-tick as it counts down the minutes left on your chore that is so effective for me. I'm using it for everything: meditation, yoga, decluttering, cleaning up the kitchen after dinner.

It really works. There's something psychological about telling yourself you can ONLY do something for 15 minutes.

[iris lilies]

I like those old kitchen timers. We once had several of them in our house, inherited from my dad. He was a physical therapist at a school for physically handicapped children and he used them for the children’s exercise routines. Each kid had a timer set for them to do their exercises. They always remind me of my dad, a room full of timers clicking away. I don’t have any at the moment but I have been thinking about buying an old one on ebay. The new ones are cheap and light, not weighted like the old ones.

[happystuff]

I used to have one and have no idea what happened to it. I loved it and used it for a lot of different things. Time to declutter and fine it!!!

[Gardnr]

I took Mom's when I cleared her house. I use it too, but not in the kitchen:~)

[pinkytoe]

I used to get DD to clean up her room when she was little by using an old-fashioned ticking kitchen timer. She thought it was fun to beat the clock. I have also used mine to time my showers to keep them under five minutes. My current one is probably from the 50s - says MIRRO on it.