The Macro is in the Micro. Or, Why I Love Kitchen Timers.

Left to right by purpose: Kitchen/cooking, Pomodoro/workout/all-arounder, bathroom/abhyanga

Conscious or unconscious, we make a statement with each and every action. Hence, the macro is in the micro – how we do small things impacts how we do big things.

So, what’s that got to do with digital kitchen timers?

For me, a lot… I use timers throughout the day. For interval timing workouts, brewing tea, ice baths, cooking, garshana, abhyanga or my personal favorite for productivity, physical and mental health - Pomodoro timing my work.

It’s entirely possible that I’ve spent too much time thinking about digital timers vs phones. But I’ve come to the conclusion I like how digital timers support single-tasking. 
When swiping open my phone I’m confronted with a panoply of enticing choices - text, email, podcasts, music or… the clock app.

Many of these choices promise miniature dopamine hits and the clock means I’ve got work to do or tea to wait on. Which choice do you think the unconscious seeks: Endogenous drugs or plodding forward with intention?

Digital timers insulate me from distraction with stupid simplicity. A little habit that helps define my reality a teensy bit more the way I want it to be – purposeful, focused, and balanced.

Am I saying you should use dedicated timers instead of Hey Google, Alexa or Siri? Not necessarily. 


What I am suggesting is to pay attention… Maybe to how you tie your shoes, wipe down the kitchen counter or arrange the flowers just-so. Because clues to decoding the big obstacles in life might just be found in the minutiae.

An experiment for tinker-ers, learners, and kids-at-heart:
Choose some tiny action, almost inconsequential in its smallness, that you can morph into a statement - a defiant mini-manifesto against entropy and chaos. I’m all ears about your findings.