Focus session · reading · 90 min
90-minute focus session for reading with a train carriage, after eating too much
90 minutes on reading — pages rather than paragraphs. 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.
Loosen your grip on whatever you're holding, or imagine loosening it. Do this sitting up, not lying down, if you have just eaten. Keep it simple: breath in, breath out, notice.
1 Before you start
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
- Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
2 While the timer runs
- When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
- It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
- Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
3 When it ends
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
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.