Focus session · problem solving · 25 min
25-minute focus block for problem solving — birds at dawn, when you have woken up too early
A timer, a short prep list, and 25 minutes to stay with the difficulty.
25:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
If you're lying down, let the mattress hold all of you. You can stop holding yourself up. Waking too early is a specific kind of frustrating. This helps with the frustration. No preamble. We start with the body.
1 Before you start
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
- Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
- Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
2 While the timer runs
- When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
- When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
- It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
3 When it ends
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
- Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
4What to put on
birds at dawn — Bright but not sharp. Better for early sessions than for late ones.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.