Focus session · problem solving · 90 min
90-minute focus session for problem solving with a fireplace, when you have woken up too early
90 minutes on problem solving — before looking anything up. 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.
Feel your ribs move. That is all the machinery you need to pay attention to right now. Waking too early is a specific kind of frustrating. This helps with the frustration. We'll be efficient and then you can get on with your day.
1 Before you start
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
- Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
- Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
2 While the timer runs
- If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
- If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
3 When it ends
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
- Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
4What to put on
a fireplace — Crackles and a low roar underneath. Warm, irregular, and undemanding.
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