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128 Birch Street
Boston, MA, 02131
United States

(617) 390-4076

Invent Boston designs and develops original products to add science + whimsy to  every day tasks at home.   Our first product is a Two Minute timer, Two Minute Turtle, a visual timer. The Two Minute Turtle helps children and adults focus on two minute tasks such as brushing teeth, physical therapy, taking a shower and speaking (practicing a presentation or learning a language).

The Art of Persistence is All Around Us (even in a Two Minute Turtle Timer): Part i

Invent Boston™, Home of the Two Minute Turtle Timer™

Invent Boston™ blog offers tips and stories by parents, for parents of children ages 4-12 to make toothbrushing and other healthy habits at home, more fun. We write about simple tactics to help kids do what they like to do-touch, seeing, play games and strive for independence. We recommend products to help stay healthy while being kids. We share stories to transform daily healthy habits from something kids resist (for example, toothbrushing, handwashing, toilet training, organizing, taking time-out or pausing, yoga, and taking turns) into something children are motivated to do independently, without parents’ reminders. The original physical product Invent Boston has designed for families is the new light-up Two Minute Turtle Timer, an analog, interval toothbrush timer to make brushing teeth fun for kids. Kids like to press the button, follow the flippers and brush until all the lights blink—the Victory Lap signals to brush the tongue.

The Art of Persistence is All Around Us (even in a Two Minute Turtle Timer): Part i

Virginia Berman

The first article in a series on Persistence. It starts a few years back with my dear ol’ dad. When I was getting interested in developing a new-product business with the Two Minute Turtle™ Timer, I felt I had to choose—to quit my day job to pursue the new Two Minute Turtle Timer idea or to relegate the business to evenings and weekends?

Most loving parents would tell their child what my dad said, “Don’t quit your day job. You can’t beat something with nothing.” That makes sense. But I weighed my options and, given how much I believed in this Two Minute Turtle Timer and how others were liking it, I determined I’d always regret it if I did not try to give it my full attention. So I quit my former job.

Then, my dad had another reason to reconsider my quitting a respectable day job. “Why does anyone need a 2-minute toothbrush timer, anyway…can’t people hack it?” He was asking whether tooth-brushing for 2 minutes is really so hard that you need to buy a special new timer to do it correctly? Good question—especially for older generations who didn’t grow up with as many gadgets. But, it turns out that two minutes of something you don’t want to do, like brushing teeth, is not as easy as it appears. Two Minutes is a rather long time to focus, yet so brief that the brusher might wonder if it matters.

Next, my dad asked, “How about a one-minute timer? I brush for one minute. Two minutes is too long to brush teeth.” So we made a one-minute timer but not many wanted it. Then, a year later, his dentist told him he needed to start brushing his teeth longer—for 2 minutes. So, my dad dug up the Two Minute Turtle Timer I’d given him and he tried it out. After all those reasons why he was against the whole idea, to his surprise—and my delight—he found the Two Minute Turtle Timer was helpful for brushing his teeth! And he was even willing to go on the record saying so.

Dad taught me from an early age the importance of persistence for achievement. So in the first weeks of a new year, 2020, from the Two Minute Turtle Timer, our message to you and to us is: persist! Keep taking it slow and steady and you will get where you need to go.