Focus session · problem solving · 90 min

90-minute focus block for problem solving — a library, when you are cold and want to be warm

A timer, a short prep list, and 90 minutes to stay with the difficulty.

90:00

Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.

You don't have to empty your mind. Nobody has ever managed that, including the people who wrote the instructions. Get a blanket first. Being cold defeats the point. This works better when you don't overthink it.

1 Before you start

Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.

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 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.
When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

4What to put on

a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.

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 writing: 90 minutes, distant thunder, when you are not in the mood, A 25-minute block for drawing, with distant thunder, when you are somewhere unfamiliar or 90-minute focus block for reading — birds at dawn, when you are at home and cannot settle.