Focus session · problem solving · 90 min
90-minute focus session for problem solving with brown noise, when you only have a few minutes
90 minutes on problem solving — before looking anything up. One full ultradian cycle, for work that needs a long runway.
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Loosen your grip on whatever you're holding, or imagine loosening it. A few minutes is the whole requirement. We'll go through it in order, without much decoration.
1 Before you start
- Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
- Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
- Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
2 While the timer runs
- Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
- When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
- If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
3 When it ends
- Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
- Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
4What to put on
brown noise — Lower and softer than white noise, closer to a waterfall heard from a distance. Good if white noise feels too hissy.
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 practising an instrument: 50 minutes, distant thunder, when the day has been loud, 25-minute reading session with birds at dawn and a timer, when you feel restless rather than tired or 90-minute focus block for brainstorming — distant traffic, before you go back to something hard.