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About this tool
Every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds — a running timer with break counts and total rest time.
The 20-20-20 rule says that after every 20 minutes of near work you should look at something about 20 feet (6.1 metres) away for at least 20 seconds, and this timer runs that cycle for you while counting the breaks you actually take. The distance is the part people get wrong: past roughly 6 metres the eye's focusing muscle is effectively relaxed, which is why 6 metres is also the standard distance for a Snellen eye chart. The rule is promoted by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Optometric Association as the simplest habit against digital eye strain.
Open 20-20-20 Eye Break Timer on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
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Converts 20 feet to 6.1 m and explains why anything nearer does not relax the focusing muscle.
Tracks breaks taken and total eye rest, not just an interval that keeps looping.
A soft chime marks each switch so you can keep your eyes on work until the break starts.
Every 20 minutes of screen or other near work, look at something at least 20 feet — about 6.1 metres — away for a minimum of 20 seconds. It gives the ciliary muscle holding your focus at reading distance a chance to relax, and gives the blink reflex time to re-wet the eye surface.
It reliably reduces the tired, dry, aching feeling of prolonged near work, which is what digital eye strain is. What it does not do is change your prescription or prevent short-sightedness on its own — screen time is only one of several factors in myopia, and time spent outdoors appears to matter more for children.
6.1 metres, since one foot is exactly 0.3048 m. In practice, anything past about 6 metres works because the eye's accommodation is essentially at rest by then — a window, the far end of a corridor, or across a large room. Looking at a wall two metres away gives almost no benefit.
Blink rate drops. Spontaneous blinking runs at roughly 15 to 20 blinks a minute at rest and falls by around half during concentrated screen work, and many of the blinks that remain are incomplete, so the tear film thins and the surface dries. Deliberately blinking fully a few times during each break helps. Persistent dryness, blurred vision or eye pain should be checked by an optometrist or ophthalmologist rather than managed with breaks alone.