Focus session · design work · 45 min
45-minute design work session with distant thunder and a timer, after eating too much
Sit down, press start, and make decisions 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.
Sit however you were already sitting. You don't have to straighten up first. Do this sitting up, not lying down, if you have just eaten. This is a short one, so let's use the time properly.
1 Before you start
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
- Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
- Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
- Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
- Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
2 While the timer runs
- When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
- When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
3 When it ends
- Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
4What to put on
distant thunder — Low rumbles with long gaps. Suits people who find sudden noises more distracting than constant ones.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.