Focus session · brainstorming · 45 min
45-minute focus session for brainstorming with a fan or air conditioner, before you go back to something hard
45 minutes on brainstorming — quantity before quality. 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.
Turn your phone face down if it's within reach. If it's in another room, even better. Five minutes here is cheaper than an hour of grinding. Keep it simple: breath in, breath out, notice.
1 Before you start
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
- Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
- Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
- Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
2 While the timer runs
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
3 When it ends
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
- Have a drink of water before you check anything.
- Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
4What to put on
a fan or air conditioner — A constant mechanical hum with no variation. The lack of change is the point — nothing in it asks for your attention.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.