Focus session · admin and email · 90 min
90-minute focus session for admin and email with a washing machine, on a low-energy afternoon
90 minutes on admin and email — in one pass, without opening new tabs. 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.
Drop your attention from your head into your chest for a second. Low-energy afternoons are what this was written for. Follow the instructions and let the rest look after itself.
1 Before you start
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
- Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
- If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
2 While the timer runs
- It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
- When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
- 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.
3 When it ends
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- Have a drink of water before you check anything.
4What to put on
a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.