8 Minute Timer
A 8 minute timer counts down 480 seconds and sounds an alarm when it reaches zero. That is 0.13 decimal hours on a timesheet, or 13.33% of an hour.
An eight minute timer is most often set for cooking, where it sits at the middle of the pasta and rice window.
Paused at 8:00
What a 8 minute timer is used for
Cooking, extended stretching and short study bursts.
- Pasta
- Eight minutes is the common al dente window for dried spaghetti, which is why the number is printed on so many packets.
- Stretching sequences
- Eight minutes covers a full sequence of sixteen holds at thirty seconds each.
- Hard boiled eggs
- Eight minutes gives a firm but not chalky yolk, two minutes short of the fully set ten minute egg.
Timing pasta so it comes out al dente
Salt the water well before the pasta goes in, a tablespoon or so in a large pot, because pasta absorbs the water as it cooks and this is the only chance to season it from the inside. Oil in the water does not stop the strands sticking. Stirring does.
Start the timer when the pasta goes into water at a full rolling boil, and stir it in the first minute so it does not stick together. Cooking times vary with the shape and the brand, so treat eight minutes as a checkpoint for dried spaghetti rather than a guarantee.
A minute or two before the timer ends, lift out a strand and bite it. Al dente pasta has a thin, firm core. If it is going into a sauce to finish cooking, drain it a minute early and keep a cup of the cooking water to loosen the sauce.
The 8 minute timer at a glance
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Length | 8 minutes |
| Seconds | 480 |
| Decimal hours | 0.13rounded |
| Clock format | 0:08 |
| Share of an hour | 13.33% |
| Blocks per hour | 7 |
| Blocks per 8 hour day | 60 |
| Pomodoros (25 min each) | 0.32 |
| 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 8 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 8 minutes
If 8 minutes is the wrong length, the two nearest are 7 minutes and 9 minutes.
Questions about the 8 minute timer
How long should I boil an egg for a firm yolk?
About eight minutes from the moment the egg goes into boiling water gives a firm yolk that is still slightly moist in the center. Ten minutes sets it all the way through. Move the egg into cold water as soon as the timer sounds to stop the cooking and make it easier to peel.
How many stretches fit in eight minutes?
Sixteen thirty second holds, which is eight stretches done on both sides of the body. That is enough for a full-body routine after a run or a long day at a desk.