Children who can see the end of a task begin it significantly more willingly than children who face an unspecified duration. The timer contract: 'We're working for 15 minutes. Timer's running. When it goes off, a real 5-minute break. I'll time that too.' The contract has two parts: the work interval is real, and the break is also real. Breaking either part (extending work time, cancelling the break because things were going well) destroys the mechanism. Held consistently, this produces a child willing to begin because they know the beginning doesn't mean infinite duration.

What you need

Timer (visible to the child)

How to do it

1Say this, exactly: '15 minutes of work. Then a real 5-minute break. I'll time both.'
2Start the timer. Say nothing during the work interval. Don't encourage or comment.
3When time goes off: break happens, even if momentum is good. The contract has two sides.

Variations

If they refuse to work in the interval or the work isn't happening, the timer still ends the interval. 'Time's up. Break now.' The contract is about visible time, not output.
When the timer signals the work block's end, the break happens immediately. No 'finish this one thing first.' Both ends of the contract must hold.

💡 Parent tip

The 5-minute break must be real: no 'just finish this one problem first.' If you break the contract once, the next work block requires full renegotiation. The mechanism depends on both parties trusting the agreement.

What your child develops

Task initiation through visible endpoint — anxiety about task duration is a primary source of avoidance; visible time limits reduce this significantly
Prefrontal load reduction — knowing the task has a defined end frees executive resources from monitoring duration
Reliability learning — a parent who keeps both ends of the contract teaches the child that agreements are binding in both directions