Focus session · coding · 50 min

50-minute coding session with a stream and a timer, when you have woken up too early

Sit down, press start, and work through the problem for 50 minutes. Fifty minutes, the length of a therapy hour, with ten minutes off afterwards.

50:00

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. Waking too early is a specific kind of frustrating. This helps with the frustration. Straight through, at a normal pace.

1 Before you start

  • Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
  • Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
  • Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
  • 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

  • If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
  • If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
  • Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
  • When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.

3 When it ends

  • Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
  • Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
  • Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

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.