Focus session · data work · 90 min
90-minute data work session with a train carriage and a timer, if you are doing this in the middle of the day
Sit down, press start, and work through the numbers for 90 minutes. One full ultradian cycle, for work that needs a long runway.
90:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
There is nothing to get right here. Nothing is being scored. Midday is an underrated time for this. Straight through, at a normal pace.
1 Before you start
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
- Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
- Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
- Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
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 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.
- It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
3 When it ends
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
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.