Focus session · design work · 90 min
90-minute design work session with a fan or air conditioner and a timer, when the weather has kept you inside
Sit down, press start, and make decisions for 90 minutes. One full ultradian cycle, for work that needs a long runway.
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Your breathing doesn't have to change yet. Let it be whatever size it currently is. Bad weather is a decent excuse to stay in and do this. Follow the instructions and let the rest look after itself.
1 Before you start
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
- If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
- Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
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.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
3 When it ends
- Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
- Have a drink of water before you check anything.
- Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
4What to put on
a fan or air conditioner — A constant mechanical hum with no variation. The lack of change is the point — nothing in it asks for your attention.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.
If this block does not fit, try Focus session for reading: 90 minutes, distant thunder, when the weather has kept you inside, Focus session for thesis writing: 90 minutes, distant traffic, when you feel restless rather than tired or Deep work timer: 90 minutes of editing (plain quiet), if you are doing this in the middle of the day.