Learning new habits using interval timing
Why I designed the Asiko timer
At the start of the pandemic, four years ago, I was living in a studio apartment on Russell Avenue in Ottawa. I had no family in Canada, and was required to work from home. This meant that my interaction with other people was completely virtual. I couldn’t hang out with my friends, I couldn’t go the library or bookstore, and I couldn’t play any team sports. My day started by logging on to my work computer, to watching movies on Crave, and then to having video calls with my family and friends. In order to break this reliance on my phone and the internet, I took up walking.
I would walk to Strathcona Park, a beautiful park in Sandy Hill that overlooks the Rideau River. I had a favourite seat too: it wasn’t on the walking path and faced away from the rest of the park. I loved it. I would sit there and read books. Then I would take a longer walk home. After a few days, I began to look forward to this time when I could be off my phone, enjoy a good book, and improve my walking pace. One day, I took a different, longer route home and when I got back my legs hurt. I learnt that when learning a new habit, I could not go from 0 to 100 in a short time. I had to pace myself.
Some days, I couldn’t take this walk; I’d find myself working after hours or laughing for hours on the phone with my then girlfriend (now wife). I’d look up at the time and find that it was 7.30pm, too late to read with sunlight. A few days of this inactivity and I would find that I couldn’t walk or read for as long as I used to. So I decided to plan this new activity: starting with 15 minutes of walking and another 15 minutes of reading. I told myself that even if I couldn’t read for as long as I wanted each day, 30 minutes was good enough for me.
Over time, I got much better at this new habit. I went from 15 minutes of walking to 45 and from 15 minutes of reading to an hour, taking breaks every now and then to gaze at other people at the park and watch the pigeons. I also developed a timer to help me keep track of this habit. Using an interval of 15 minutes, I would set the timer in steps of the interval. If I worked too long on a given day, I would set the timer to 30 minutes so that I had the minimum time. If I felt like walking for longer than I read for, I would set the timer for 45 minutes — 30 for walking and the basic 15 for reading. I later learnt that this is called interval timing and is a method that has been used extensively by fitness trainers.
I also learnt that how I had broken down these new habits into their smallest unit was in line with the science on goal setting: starting with an easy activity and increasing as you get better leads to better outcomes. These insights and my personal use case helped me develop Asiko, an interval timer for learning new habits.
With Asiko, you can set any interval you like and use that interval to set the count. There are two modes: regular, where the timer only rings at the end of the count, and training, where the timer rings each time an interval has gone by. The timer is powered by a single AA battery that’s engineered to last about 6 months, and to change the battery, you simply have to slide the case out of the metallic guide. The timer’s triangular form opens up the field of view much better than a 90-degree angle would, so it fits perfectly on a desk or stool — or, if you’re like me who likes to read in a park — on a park bench.
One of my favourite things about the timer is how the count ends: when the count gets to 0, it rings for 3 seconds then begins to count up. This means that when you get to the timer you can see by how much time you went over the count. This feature is helpful for two reasons: one, you can see how much better you’re doing at the activity, and two, if you’re busy or focused it doesn’t break your concentration that much. If you miss the end ring and just happen to glance at the timer, it only takes a second to realize that it’s counting up — a very unobtrusive signal.
Designing the timer was not a singular endeavour. I’m very grateful to the large number of people who tested different versions of the timer and provided really handy feedback. Tom & Dan at Studio Neat were the first to suggest that I should allow people set their own interval (originally, the timer only used 5 minute intervals). Aziz (via Scope of Work’s Slack) suggested the upward count after the end ring, a suggestion that Lisa-Marie validated when she shared her thoughts on alternative notification methods. Kat was the first to suggest training mode. Mitchell and Tolu told me about how they use interval training in cycling and weightlifting respectively. Annie (who runs a wonderful book club I joined during the pandemic) talked about how the timer could be very useful to her as a tool to track her reading progress. Feyi and Sweetie suggested that the volume should be much higher. Kume and Martin told me specific things to improve: the ease of sliding and the depth of travel of the buttons. Vlad (via the Friends With Interests Discord channel) shared how he used timers to sleep train his kids and how Asiko could work for that use case. I’m very grateful to each of you. And yes, I was taking notes.
Emmanuel Ahanmisi came on board as a collaborator in July 2022. He designed the electronics and wrote the firmware. There are many ease-of-use changes he brought to the product, like a menu for changing the interval and button states. When he joined the project, I had spent two years trying to go from an Arduino to a PCB before realizing that I should probably stick to my design strengths (thanks to Temi and Evan for helping me troubleshoot). There simply would not be a timer without Emmanuel.
On April 30, Asiko will launch on Kickstarter. For the first time since I thought about this product, it will be available to purchase for 51 USD (69 CAD). My hope for the product is that it helps people learn new habits and it becomes a very personal device for them to use in becoming better versions of themselves. By starting small, selecting an interval, and consistently doing the work.
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Update: Asiko is live on Kickstarter! Go to campaign.
To keep up with the campaign and the timer, sign up at asikotimer.com.
