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Focus session · writing · 90 min

90-minute focus session for writing with a fan or air conditioner, before you go back to something hard

90 minutes on writing — the first draft, not the good version. 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.

Unclench your jaw. You were probably holding it without noticing. Five minutes here is cheaper than an hour of grinding. We'll go through it in order, without much decoration.

1 Before you start

  • Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
  • Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
  • Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
  • Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
  • Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.

2 While the timer runs

  • Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
  • It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
  • If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
  • If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.

3 When it ends

  • Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
  • Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
  • Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

4What to put on

a fan or air conditioner — A constant mechanical hum with no variation. The lack of change is the point — nothing in it asks for your attention.

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 drawing: 50 minutes, a library, when nothing else has worked today, A 45-minute block for language practice, with a train carriage, when you have just finished work or Deep work timer: 50 minutes of data work (rain on a window), when you have just finished work.