Digital Clepsydra
Time as Quantity
Circular time is misleading
Perhaps we ought to visualise time as a precious commodity. Since the runaway success of mechanical timekeeping, we are almost conditioned to see time in a circular fashion, but perhaps this is misleading - after all, and as we know, time does march.
Ancient timekeeping
Perhaps as long ago as 1600 BC water clocks were used in Egypt and Babylon. Ancient Greeks called theirs, clepsydra - the water thief.
Digital clepsydra
Below is a digital clepsydra for entertainment: after setting a start and end time, the level of the time beaker below declines in real-time, proportional to time remaining. If the time interval is longer than 15 minutes, you may not easily detect the movement - but it is happening, come back and check whenever you like. Monitor how much time there is remaining in your project. Put an end to procrastination.
Instructions for use
Enter a start and end date/time and a name for your interval. If you want to count from now, simply choose an end date/time. Your browser will then show a URL with your active time beaker. You may share this link with others.