Focus session · studying · 45 min
45-minute focus session for studying with a washing machine, when you are on your own
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.
Notice the heaviest part of your body right now. Let it be heavy. Being on your own is not required, but it does make this simpler. Straight through, at a normal pace.
1 Before you start
- Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
- Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
- Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
- 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.
2 While the timer runs
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
3 When it ends
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
4What to put on
a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.