Focus session · reading · 45 min
45-minute reading session with café murmur and a timer, when you are at home and cannot settle
Sit down, press start, and read properly 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.
Keep your eyes open if you like, resting on one point of the floor a metre or two ahead. Being at home and unable to settle is a very specific problem. Straight through, at a normal pace.
1 Before you start
- Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
- Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
- Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
- Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
2 While the timer runs
- It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
- When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
- If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
3 When it ends
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
- Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
4What to put on
café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.
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