Focus session · studying · 90 min
90-minute focus block for studying — a train carriage, if you are new to this
A timer, a short prep list, and 90 minutes to take in the material.
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
If you're sitting, let the chair do the work of holding you upright. Nothing here assumes you have done this before. Keep it simple: breath in, breath out, notice.
1 Before you start
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
- Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
- 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.
- Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
2 While the timer runs
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
3 When it ends
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
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.
If this block does not fit, try Focus session for editing: 90 minutes, vinyl crackle, when you have just finished work, 50-minute focus session for planning with brown noise, after a long day or Focus session for studying: 45 minutes, brown noise, when you feel restless rather than tired.