Vinyl as a Pomodoro Timer

I recently got a turntable, the Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBTa, hooking up to a pair of Edifier R1700BT+, and I’ve been using vinyl as a study timer. Works way better than I expected.

My setup — turntable and tenor saxophone — My setup now. Turntable and tenor sax.

Here’s the idea. One side of a record is about 20 minutes of music before the needle runs out and you have to flip it. That’s basically a Pomodoro. So instead of setting a timer, I just put on a record and work until the side ends.

The reason this beats an actual timer is that you can’t ignore it. When a phone alarm goes off you swipe it away and keep scrolling. When a record ends, the room goes quiet and you have to physically get up, walk over, and lift the needle. The walk is the break. You stretch, drink some water, decide if you’re flipping it or putting on something new, then sit back down.

Vinyl spinning on the turntable — Running Soulville by Ben Webster, side A. Turntable corner on the shelf — should decorate or add LED strips later.

Playlists don’t work the same way. They just keep going. There’s no edge to the session, so you never really stop, you just drift from working to half-working to scrolling without noticing.

Right now I’m on Ben Webster’s Soulville. Warm tenor sax, no vocals, doesn’t ask anything of you. Pretty much perfect study jazz. Side A, flip, Side B, and almost an hour’s gone by without me checking my phone once.

Try it if you have a turntable nearby. If you don’t, this is a decent excuse to get one.