3 Minute Timer
A 3 minute timer counts down 180 seconds and sounds an alarm when it reaches zero. That is 0.05 decimal hours on a timesheet, or 5% of an hour.
A three minute timer is a kitchen length before it is a productivity one, and it is the classic egg timer setting that gave the sand timer its shape.
Paused at 3:00
What a 3 minute timer is used for
Soft boiled eggs, black tea, breathing exercises and short rounds.
- Soft boiled eggs
- Three minutes in boiling water produces a runny yolk and a just-set white for a medium egg.
- Steeping black tea
- Three minutes is the lower end of the range for black tea, where green tea is already past its best.
- Boxing rounds
- A professional round is three minutes, followed by one minute in the corner, which is why gym bag work is timed the same way.
- Box breathing sets
- Three minutes covers roughly eleven cycles of the four-count box breathing pattern.
Timing a soft boiled egg properly
Start the timer the moment the egg goes into water that is already at a rolling boil, not when you put the pan on the heat. Lower the egg in on a spoon so it does not crack against the bottom, and keep the heat high so the water comes back to the boil quickly.
When the timer sounds, move the egg into cold water for thirty seconds to stop the cooking, or straight into an egg cup if you are eating at once. Eggs from the fridge, or large eggs, need closer to four minutes, which is what the 4 minute timer is for.
The 3 minute timer at a glance
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Length | 3 minutes |
| Seconds | 180 |
| Decimal hours | 0.05 |
| Clock format | 0:03 |
| Share of an hour | 5% |
| Blocks per hour | 20 |
| Blocks per 8 hour day | 160 |
| Pomodoros (25 min each) | 0.12 |
| Decimal hours are rounded to two places, as payroll does. Block counts are whole blocks with no breaks between them. | |
For other lengths, use the minutes to decimal hours converter or the hours calculator.
Your focus time, counted and kept
A countdown tells you when the block ends. PomoTodo records that the block happened, which task it went to and what the week added up to, so a month of 3 minute blocks becomes something you can actually look at.
Free plan tracks unlimited focus time across unlimited tasks. No card required.
Timers either side of 3 minutes
If 3 minutes is the wrong length, the two nearest are 2 minutes and 4 minutes.
Questions about the 3 minute timer
Is three minutes right for a soft boiled egg?
For a medium egg lowered into already boiling water, yes, and the yolk stays runny. A large egg or a fridge-cold one wants closer to four minutes, and four and a half gives a jammy yolk rather than a liquid one.
How many three minute rounds fit in an hour?
Twenty, with no rest between them. Boxing's round-plus-corner pattern of three minutes on and one off fits fifteen rounds into an hour.