Focus session · studying · 45 min
45-minute focus session for studying with a train carriage, when the weather has kept you inside
45 minutes on studying — reading and notes, not highlighting. 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.
Nothing needs to be decided in the next few minutes. Park the decisions. Bad weather is a decent excuse to stay in and do this. We'll be efficient and then you can get on with your day.
1 Before you start
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
- Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
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.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
3 When it ends
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
- Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
4What to put on
a train carriage — Rhythmic, low, and slightly rumbly. Many people find the motion-and-noise combination easier to work to than silence.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.