Focus session · writing · 45 min
45-minute writing session with a stream and a timer, when you have been meaning to start
Sit down, press start, and get words down 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.
Start by hearing the furthest sound you can find. You have been meaning to start. This is the least intimidating way in. This works better when you don't overthink it.
1 Before you start
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
- Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
- Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
2 While the timer runs
- If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
3 When it ends
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
4What to put on
a stream — Running water with small variation. Softer than rain and less repetitive than a fan.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.