We have many timers in our house. Mostly, they function alike. I prefer countdown timers that make a sound when the specified period has elapsed. We do have also hourglass timers with the right amount of sand in them so that they measure 3 minutes and other glasses that measure different times, like 5 min., 15 minutes and 30 minutes.
I brew green tea five mornings a week and each time, I steep the tea for 2 minutes. Some of our timers can be started without specifying a time, like a stopwatch. I can't discriminate between a cup that has been steeped for 2 minutes and one that has had 4 or 5 minutes. Some mornings, I don't want a persistent ringing in the house and I find a timer that just runs on silently showing the elapsed time.
My two Ipads have stopwatch functions on them and they run continuously forward like that. My wristwatch has a countdown timer and a stopwatch function.
Timing knowledge of likely time requirements can be helpful. So far, I have not set a timer and forgotten it nor what it was for. Don't be too surprised if you find I have started putting a note beside timers to remind me of what it is timing.
