Focus session · decluttering · 45 min

45-minute decluttering session with café murmur and a timer, if you are sceptical about all of this

Sit down, press start, and move things out for 45 minutes. A single class period, the length most people can hold before the quality drops.

45:00

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

Let the floor take your weight through your feet, and stop holding yourself up for a second. Scepticism is welcome. You do not have to believe anything for this to work. No preamble. We start with the body.

1 Before you start

  • Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
  • Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
  • Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
  • Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
  • Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.

2 While the timer runs

  • If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
  • When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
  • The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
  • If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

  • 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.
  • Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.

4What to put on

café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.

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