Focus session · brainstorming · 90 min
90-minute focus block for brainstorming — distant traffic, before you go back to something hard
A timer, a short prep list, and 90 minutes to generate options.
90:00
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. Five minutes here is cheaper than an hour of grinding. We'll be efficient and then you can get on with your day.
1 Before you start
- Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
- Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
- Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
- Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
2 While the timer runs
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
3 When it ends
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
- Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
4What to put on
distant traffic — A low continuous wash from a road you are not on. Familiar and easy to stop hearing.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.