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Focus session · reading · 90 min

90-minute reading session with white noise and a timer, after a long day

Sit down, press start, and read properly for 90 minutes. 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.

Put both feet flat on the floor and let them take some of the weight. Use it at the end of a long day, not at the start of one. This is a short one, so let's use the time properly.

1 Before you start

  • Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
  • If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
  • Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
  • Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
  • Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.

2 While the timer runs

  • If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
  • Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
  • If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
  • When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.

3 When it ends

  • Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
  • Have a drink of water before you check anything.
  • Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.

4What to put on

white noise — Flat across all frequencies and very effective at covering speech. Some people find it harsh after an hour; keep the volume low.

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 Deep work timer: 45 minutes of writing (vinyl crackle), when you are too tired to try hard, Deep work timer: 90 minutes of drawing (birds at dawn), when you are not in the mood or 90-minute focus block for editing — rain on a window, when you are doing this for the first time.