A website that invites users to log on and do nothing has become a web phenomenon.

The site, donothingfor2minutes.com, has received more than two million visitors since launching 10 days ago, according to its creators, entrepreneur Alex Tew and developer Ben Dowling.

Users arriving at the site are presented with a sunset view and the sound of ocean waves, together with a countdown that resets to two minutes if the mouse or keyboard are touched.

Not everyone is up to the challenge, though, explains Tew. “Only 38 per cent of visitors are managing to take a step back and do two full minutes of nothing, which I think highlights the point of the site.”

Mr Tew, 26, previously found internet fame in 2005 after making $1m with his Million Dollar Homepage, set up to fund his university education. He now hopes his new site will provide an antidote to information overload. “I read somewhere that our brains are being re-wired by the internet, because we get a little dopamine kick every time we check our e-mail or Twitter or Facebook and there’s a new update. So we’re all developing a bit of ADD, which can’t be good.”

According to Mr Tew, the site has received more than 250,000 “likes” on Facebook.