Focus session · planning · 25 min

25-minute focus block for planning — distant traffic, when you are not sure this will work

A timer, a short prep list, and 25 minutes to decide what happens when.

25:00

Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.

Notice whether you're leaning forward. Most people are, slightly, all day. Not being sure it will work is a perfectly good reason to try it once. Keep it simple: breath in, breath out, notice.

1 Before you start

  • Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
  • Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
  • Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
  • Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
  • Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.

2 While the timer runs

  • When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
  • When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
  • If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
  • When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.

3 When it ends

  • Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
  • Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
  • Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.

4What to put on

distant traffic — A low continuous wash from a road you are not on. Familiar and easy to stop hearing.

This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.