Focus session · planning · 50 min
50-minute planning session with a train carriage and a timer, when you have been meaning to start
Sit down, press start, and decide what happens when 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.
If you're lying down, let the mattress hold all of you. You can stop holding yourself up. You have been meaning to start. This is the least intimidating way in. We'll be efficient and then you can get on with your day.
1 Before you start
- Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
- Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
- Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
- Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
- Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
2 While the timer runs
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
3 When it ends
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
- Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
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.