ADHD Study Timer
Name one task, pick a length you will actually finish, and study while the countdown runs over dimmed Subway Surfers gameplay. Sound stays off unless you want it, and one tap makes it full screen.
Visual Timer · Subway Surfers Background · Dimmable · Full-Screen Study Timer
ADHD study timer
How long are you studying?
Sound starts off. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.
How the ADHD study timer works
Three decisions, none of them big. Nothing to install.
Name one task
Type the single thing you are doing — one chapter, one problem set, one email. It stays on screen the whole session, so when your attention comes back it lands on the task instead of a blank moment.
Pick a length you will actually finish
Ten minutes counts. So does fifteen. The presets start deliberately small because a session you finish builds momentum and a session you abandon costs you the rest of the afternoon.
Start, dim, go full screen
The gameplay starts playing behind a dimmed layer and the countdown takes over the middle of the screen. Sound stays off until you ask for it. Full screen puts the rest of your desktop out of reach.
Why a gameplay background instead of a blank screen
The usual advice for ADHD is to remove everything: clear the desk, close the tabs, silence the room. That works for some people and backfires for others, because the problem was never too much input. It was not enough — a task that is boring enough to be unbearable, in a room quiet enough that the boredom is the loudest thing in it.
A muted gameplay stream sits in a useful middle. There is constant motion, so the understimulated part of your attention has somewhere to go, but there is nothing to do about it. Nobody is talking to you, no new video starts, nothing scrolls, nothing pings. Look up, watch for two seconds, look back down. That is the whole mechanic, and it is the same reason a café works better than a library for some people.
Everything else on this page exists to make the session cheap to start. One task instead of a list, because a list is a decision. Ten-minute sessions, because finishing something small beats abandoning something ambitious. A visible clock, because “how much longer is this” is the question that ends most sessions early.
Be honest with yourself about the dim level, though. If you finish a session and remember the game rather than the chapter, the background is winning. Turn it to heavy, or switch to the still image and keep the rest.
One caveat worth stating plainly. Research on background stimulation and ADHD is mixed, and close reading is the task most likely to suffer from it. This is a tool to test on yourself for a week, not a technique to trust because a page said so. It is also not a treatment, and nothing here is medical advice.
What is on the screen
Every control is one tap, because a settings menu is a place to hide.
Movement in the background, not in your notes
The gameplay gives your eyes somewhere to go between paragraphs that is not another tab. It never asks you for a decision, never notifies you and never scrolls to something new, which is the difference between background motion and a feed.
Three dim levels
Light if you want the stimulation, heavy if the movement is competing with your reading. You can change it mid-session without stopping the clock, because the right amount is different on a tired day.
One visible task
Working memory is the thing that goes first when attention drifts. Keeping the task on screen means the reset after a distraction costs you a second instead of five minutes of deciding what you were doing.
Sound is opt-in
It starts muted, so the page never ambushes you and never fights your own music. One button turns the game audio on when you want the whole thing, and one turns it back off.
Add five minutes without resetting
If you are mid-flow when the timer is nearly out, extend it. Stopping a session that is working to set up a new one is how flow gets lost, so the button adds time to the clock that is already running.
A clock that cannot drift
The countdown works from a target timestamp rather than counting frames, so switching tabs, locking your phone or a throttled background tab cannot slow it down or lose you minutes.
Which session length to pick
Pick the longest one you are confident you will finish, not the one you think you should manage. You can always add five minutes to a session that is going well.
10 min
The starting gun
For when opening the file is the hard part. Ten minutes is short enough that the objection in your head runs out of arguments.
15 min
One small unit
One set of practice questions, one page of notes, one email you have been avoiding for three days.
25 min
The Pomodoro
The classic block. Long enough for real work, short enough that the end is always in sight.
45 min
A lecture
Matches the length of most recorded lectures, so you can watch one and take notes without stopping.
60 min
Deep work
For reading and writing, where the first fifteen minutes are warm-up and stopping early wastes them.
90 min
Exam conditions
A full past paper in one sitting. Practising the length matters as much as practising the questions.
A YouTube tab vs Forest vs the Lorea ADHD study timer
Most people improvise this setup already: gameplay in one tab, a timer in another. It works until an ad plays, or the sidebar suggests something better than revision. Forest solves distraction by removing the stimulation entirely, which suits some people and not others. This page puts the background and the clock on one screen with no ads and nothing to click.
| Feature | Lorea ADHD Study Timer | YouTube tab + timer | Forest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, forever | Free with ads | Paid on iOS, ads on Android |
| Gameplay background and timer on one screen | Yes | No | No |
| No ads interrupting the session | Yes | No | No |
| No recommended videos at the edge of the screen | Yes | No | Yes |
| Adjustable background dimming | Yes | No | No |
| Current task kept on screen | Yes | No | Yes |
| Works without an account | Yes | Yes | No |
| No download or app store install | Yes | Yes | No |
| Extend a running session without resetting it | Yes | No | No |
| Full-screen mode on phones and tablets | Yes | Yes | No |
| Turns your notes into courses, quizzes and mock exams | Yes | No | No |
Comparison reflects the publicly listed plans and features of each product in 2026. Third-party pricing and features change — check their sites for the current position. Lorea’s ADHD study timer is free with no account, no session limits and no premium tier.
ADHD study timer FAQ
What is an ADHD study timer?+
It is a study timer built for a brain that stalls on unstructured time. Instead of an abstract countdown, you name one task, choose a length you believe you can finish, and get a large visible clock over a moving background. The design targets the two things that usually break a session: not knowing how much longer, and losing the thread of what you were doing.
Why is there Subway Surfers gameplay in the background?+
Because a lot of people with ADHD describe boredom, not difficulty, as the reason they stop. Low-demand background motion can take the edge off understimulation without asking anything of you — there is nothing to decide, nothing to scroll and nothing new to click. It is the same instinct behind studying in a busy café. If it does not work for you, turn it down or switch to the still image.
Does the gameplay background actually help concentration?+
It depends on the person and the task. Evidence on background stimulation is genuinely mixed: some people with ADHD read and write better with ambient noise or motion, and others do measurably worse, particularly on tasks that need close reading. Treat it as a setting to test rather than a rule. Start on heavy dim, and if you catch yourself watching the game instead of your notes, switch to the still image.
Is this timer free?+
Yes, completely. No account, no download, no session cap, no ads and no premium tier. It runs in your browser, and the study tools it links to afterwards are free too.
Can I use it without sound?+
It starts muted and stays muted until you press the sound button, so it will never talk over your own music or a lecture recording. Most people run it silent with their own audio, which is the setup we would suggest first.
Can I run it full screen?+
Yes. Press the full-screen button on the setup screen or during a session. Desktop browsers use the native Fullscreen API; iPhone and iPad get an edge-to-edge overlay because Safari has no element full-screen support. Escape or the close button brings you back.
What happens if I switch tabs or lock my phone?+
The countdown keeps correct time. It compares the current time to the moment your session is due to end, so background throttling cannot cost you minutes. The video pauses and resumes with the timer, not with the tab.
How long should an ADHD study session be?+
Shorter than you think, at least at first. Pick the longest length you are confident you can finish rather than the length you feel you should manage — finishing is what makes the next session easier to start. Ten and fifteen minute options exist for exactly that reason, and you can add five minutes to a session that is going well.
Is this a treatment for ADHD?+
No. It is a free study timer, not a medical device, a therapy or a substitute for advice from a clinician. It may help you start and finish sessions. It cannot diagnose anything, and nothing on this page should be read as medical advice.
Does it work on my phone?+
Yes. It runs in mobile browsers and the video plays inline rather than taking over the screen. That said, if your phone is the thing pulling your attention, running this on a laptop and leaving the phone in another room is the stronger move.
The timer gets you started. Lorea makes the material easier to face
A wall of PDF is the hardest thing to start. Drop your slides or notes into Lorea and get a course, quizzes and mock exams instead — small pieces, one at a time, which is exactly what a 15-minute session needs.
Turn your notes into a courseMore free study tools
The background is the official YouTube embed of a publicly available gameplay stream, played from YouTube rather than re-hosted here. Subway Surfers is a trademark of its respective owner; Lorea is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by it. This page is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice.