Focus session · planning · 45 min
45-minute focus block for planning — a washing machine, when you are waiting for something
A timer, a short prep list, and 45 minutes to decide what happens when.
45:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Quick check: is anything genuinely urgent in this exact minute? Usually the answer is no. Waiting is dead time you can spend on this instead. We'll be efficient and then you can get on with your day.
1 Before you start
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
- Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
- Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
- Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
2 While the timer runs
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
- When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
3 When it ends
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
- Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
- Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
4What to put on
a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.
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